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Marshall Fire: Disaster Rescue and Recovery, Part IThis episode is a response to the Marshall Fire on December 30, 2021. Emily and Libby speak with four guests:
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Episode Transcript
Emily 0:09
Welcome to pod to the rescue.
Libby 0:11
Rescuing the dog is just the first step. We're here to help with everything that comes next.
Hey, listeners, welcome back to pod to the rescue. I'm Libby. And I'm Emily. And today we are bringing you a special episode covering the recent Marshal fire that burned through superior and Louisville, Colorado as well as unincorporated Boulder County. This happened beginning on December 30. And we're based in Boulder. This is our backyard. You know, I used to live in Superior and Lewisville, we have adopters who had to evacuate. We have adopters in these communities. It's this is very, very close to home.
Emily 1:02
We have several adopters who lost their houses. But luckily, all our adopters in that area did manage to get out with their pets, which is truly a miracle given how fast these fires moved through that area. It was just a blessing.
Libby 1:18
Yeah, this fire was really unimaginable. So in Colorado, we're no strangers to wildfires, but this they're calling an urban Firestorm, because it started in grasslands. But it quickly spread. Because the wind that day was over 100 miles an hour at some points. It quickly spread across the grasslands, to suburban areas. And these are areas that would never expect to be affected by Wildfire.
Emily 1:53
And they're so densely populated, there was you know, a hotel got taken out and the target got taken out and densely populated houses close together. So the fire just whipped it, you know, football fields per second is how fast it was moving.
Libby 2:12
It's really unimaginable. We know that a total of 991 structures were destroyed by the fire. And while it is now contained in the perimeter won't grow any further. There were times when the firefighters really couldn't do anything to fight this because the wind was so strong. And it happened so fast.
Emily 2:43
And the sad reality is that there are people who were either gone from their home shopping or at work or taking their grandchildren to, you know, an event and their pets were at home. So since we're so focused on animals on this podcast, we've been deeply involved with the community, watching some of the recoveries watching reunited pets with their people. And we've been also heartbroken about some of the dogs and cats that just have not been found, because the people couldn't get back to them no fault of their own.
Libby 3:21
Yeah, we just really want to make that clear that this there's nothing normal about this tragedy. It's not people didn't have notice about this. You know, even even people who received reverse 911 phone calls, sometimes they had only minutes to leave their houses. So this was by no stretch of the imagination, a normal wildfire scenario where you have time, you know that it's coming. Nobody knew this was coming.
Emily 3:55
And I feel like our conversations that we did kind of spur on the moment in the last 24 hours, we talked a lot about how people can prepare in the future. And there were some good pointers that some of our guests brought up even though this was you know, such a rare exceptional events, I think preparedness in the future. Hopefully people can take that away from this podcast with a few pointers as to how we can all be a little bit more organized because this might be our future with climate change.
Libby 4:26
Absolutely, it's, we all need to think about what could happen and it's depressing. But, you know, there are some really, really important tips in this episode, which I hope that all of you listeners will take to heart. So for this episode, we spoke with the CEO of Humane Society of Boulder Valley, Jan McHugh Smith about the Humane Society's response to this disaster and other disasters. and some of the some of the services that they're offering the community now and throughout the year. We also spoke with an estimate dog rescue adopter, Lisa Weiland, who evacuated from the fire with her two summit dogs, Pat, and she was also able to evacuate her neighbor's daughter who's a teenager and her neighbor's cat. And her story is, so I mean, harrowing, harrowing, and we it really puts into perspective how fast this thing moved. We also spoke with Colorado University sociologist Lesley Ervin, about the bigger picture, and why in the early news coverage of this fire, we weren't seeing anything about the companion animals. You know, we kept hearing that there was no loss of life or limited loss of life. And as animal rescuers, we knew that there were going to be some pets who died in this fire. And so why is it that when we discuss a natural disaster, we often forget about the pets and even wildlife who are impacted. And finally, we spoke with Natalie Riggs, the director of cavies, and canines Animal Rescue, about the Super heartwarming story of finding 11 of their guinea pigs still alive after 72 hours of trying to get some news about what had happened to all of these foster in Guinea pigs. listeners. This is going to be a two part episode because there's so much to cover here. We are going to speak with friends of the podcast, Chrissy Messick and Mary Anjali about how you can ease anxiety and support your dog behaviorally. If you're ever in a situation where you are displaced, or you're going through a major trauma like this. First we speak with Jan McHugh Smith, CEO of Humane Society of Boulder Valley. So can you start by telling us how boulder humane has been responding to this disaster, the urban firestorm in Louisville and Superior.
Jan 7:37
So our mission is to keep people and pets together. And we partner with Boulder County Animal Control when it comes to disaster response. So the Humane Society houses animals for evacuation, that are lost, and animals that just you know need a new home. So during the fire, we started to get animals in from animal folder, County Animal Control. And then we started to have families arrive who needed temporary housing during the evacuation. We took in about 50 animals.
Libby 8:11
Wow. And how many of those have you been able to reunite with their owners so far? You know, if they were brought in by animal control,
Jan 8:21
we've been able to reclaim all but one. We have nine animals that were we're holding for their guardians. Their guardians are in temporary housing, so they're trying to figure out their living situation. So we're going to hold those animals for them. We provide free boarding as a part of our safety net services.
Libby 8:43
That's amazing. So boulder humane is really providing a landing place for the displaced dogs and cats who are fleeing from the fire or whoever evacuated.
Jan 8:57
Yes, and then the other role replay is the Lost and Found role. So Boulder County Animal Control, tries to get people to send all their lost pet information and also found pet information as you know, many wonderful citizens found animals. And we get all of that into our computer system and our we have a dedicated team of staff members who match last and found together to try to reunite families.
Emily 9:23
Wow, what an amazing resource for our community. We've always been big fans of Boulder humane but I think as a community, we're really blessed to have such an incredible resource during especially a time of crisis like this.
Jan 9:35
And I want to put a shout out there for Longmont Humane Society because I know they were standing by they were ready and they have some animals over at their place to for a family that needed some assistance.
Emily 9:45
Oh, that's right. They did all the large animals over there. I think all the horses went to Longmont humane
Jan 9:50
they're on the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds is run by another entity in Boulder County and they take care of all the horses and when that was a fourth that was full animals went over to Jefferson County. So Jefferson county response team handled those animals over there. And the good news is all but three of those horses have gone home. And I think three of them are those last three are being picked up today.
Emily 10:18
For a while, I believe is this the biggest disaster crisis that you've dealt with? I've know we've had other wildland fires, and we've had the flood in 2013. Does this seem like the largest animal need that you've seen,
Jan 10:33
I worked at the Humane Society, the Pikes Peak region in 2012, and 13. So I was part of the response team for the Waldo Canyon fire, and the black forest fire. So those events were so different from this event, though, every fire is different. You know, so suburban area was burned up in Waldo Canyon. But people were able to get their pets, many of them were able to get their pets out. And then the Black Forest Fire lasted so long. And so we had a lot of a lot longer period of housing animals, trying to match animals. And then the recovery phase. Obviously, this is the largest fire in Colorado with almost 1000 homes loss, because other fires were between five and 650 homes. What's interesting, though, is that the Waldo Canyon fire, we had a much larger response, we have 680 animals in that fire. And this fire rehouse 50. And what that says to me is that people are really understanding the need to evacuate with their pets. Now, it's been a decade. And I think there's been a lot of education about preparedness, and go bags for your pet and your people.
Libby 11:51
Yeah, that's been a really important thing that we've talked to a lot of people about putting together this episode. And something really heartwarming to us is the support of community members who really want to work together to get these animals reunited with their guardians. Do you have any advice for people who want to help?
Jan 12:12
Well, when when a disaster happens, we turn to our trained volunteers first. So if people are interested in being involved in in situations like this in the future, I would encourage them to find a group to volunteer with and get proper training, so that they can be saved. In the Incident Command System, people are not supposed to self deploy and go out and do rescues on their own, it's very dangerous. And it also can put other officers in danger, people are responding to her three times to the same home and the animals are gone. Those are homes that, you know, other homes may not be met as quickly as possible. So I think in my mind, I would encourage people to volunteer and I know there are lots of shelters, including ours that are meeting volunteers. The donations that people gave us were amazing and a huge help to the families, we've been out at the Disaster Assistance Center at Lafayette handing out food and beverage, collars, supplies, all kinds of stuff. And people are just been so grateful. So thanks to everybody who donated. And then obviously cash donations are a big help. We can buy things much cheaper than in the store. And also we can use that money to pay for veterinary care, we did provide some assistance in that area. During the fires, we can help people with pet deposits as they're trying to look for a place to live. And it supports our safety net services year round. We have year round disasters for individuals, as well as these communities disasters. So we're able to provide discounted or free veterinary care in some circumstances, and people can go to our website, Boulder humane that org, and let us know what their needs are, and we'll try to help them out.
Libby 13:59
That's amazing. There's a lot of support you provide throughout the year that I had no idea about.
Jan 14:05
I know it's true. The other piece is behavior. We saw animals come in that were completely shut down. And we have a behavior team and they were able to get in there, start working with that animal, provide some drugs that would help that animal to relax it was in that team did a great job of helping these animals acclimate so many changes in such a short period of time.
Libby 14:27
Yeah, big kudos to them. We're big behavior nerds on this podcast. And so we're just like, oh my gosh, how are these? How are these pets doing? Emotionally? Behavior wise? So have you seen improvements in those dogs and cats?
Jan 14:43
Well, the biggest improvements when their guardian shows them and they're reunited. Oh my gosh, the joy on the human and animal side is so amazing and heartwarming.
Libby 14:54
What advice do you have for pet owners? God forbid any have us ever have to go through this. But what is the most important thing, when it comes to reuniting with your pet after a disaster
Jan 15:10
It's being prepared before the disaster. That's the most important thing. And it sounds like you've talked about this before. But what I really recommend is get your pet microchipped and get the microchip registered. That's a really important step. Update your registration. If you've moved, make sure you have a go bag. So you want to make sure you have your pets vaccination records, many medications, leashes, collars, anything that would help your pet be acclimate during a situation like this. And then you want to have your own go bag, where you would have clothing, right? The amount of time these folks had to get out of their home was so small, I've heard seven to 10 minutes, trying to gather those things together. When you're trying to save your own family's life. I can't even imagine how difficult that must be. But being prepared, knowing where you want to go, once you get evacuated, is just really important steps to take to prevent your family from getting in harm's way.
Emily 16:10
I was also thinking maybe people need to do like neighborhood pods. A lot of the people we know who rescued their dogs also were so close with their neighbors that they went and got their neighbor's dog. And so maybe something in the future we could promote is like a neighbor pod. Because if you were 20 minutes away during this fire, you couldn't get back to get your pet, which is heartbreaking.
Jan 16:31
Yeah, make friends with your neighbors, maybe exchange keys.
Emily 16:35
Great idea.
Jan 16:36
Because once the fire starts when the evacuation starts, you're right, it's very difficult and sometimes impossible to get back in.
Libby 16:43
I think that was something about this particular disaster that was so shocking is it was unexpected in such a suburban environment. And it moved so quickly. And I think it's just pointing to the need for everyone to take a look at our own preparedness for anything that any disaster that could come upon us. Is there anything else about boulder humains response that you'd like to add that that you're doing that we'd like to get out there.
Jan 17:14
I want to thank everybody who was so generous donating supplies and food for the community. We're doing really well in that area. So thank you so much. I think this is going to be a long recovery and that there are going to be ongoing needs for families, not only for their own housing, but for their pets fencing, right place to live that allows pets, so it's going to be a long recovery. And I just want us to all the state really conscious about that. And help help our neighbors out as much as we can.
Libby 17:46
Wonderful. Thank you, Jan, so much for your time today. And thank you for all the work you're doing to help the animals out and guardians out in the wake of this terrible disaster.
Jan 17:57
Thank you
Libby 18:08
Next, we'll go to Lisa Weiland, who has the story of her escape from the fire with her two summit dogs, her cat, her neighbor and her neighbor's cat
we would just like to ask you about your experience of evacuating and what it was like and then if you've been able to go back and kind of see what it looks like in your neighborhood
Lisa 18:35
think from the last big fires we had in the mountains where we got a lot of set on you know, in my neighborhood, I kind of went into action there and probably at the time went overboard and got you know, went like full safety you know, fire blankets, gloves, emergency kits, and did a lot of that thinking then I think of okay, you know, if there is an emergency here, I'm going to need the pet food, the beds, all this kind of stuff. So I started thinking, all right, I probably don't need to do any of this. Maybe I should just start walking around seeing what I should bring if I have to evacuate for some reason. And so I still was able to do that pretty calmly and just kind of go through and you know, grab some documents, grab a couple of computers get my pet food and you know they're in containers. And by the time I kind of had that first round, it shifted from you know, that feeling of this is probably silly. I'm gonna pull all this stuff out of my car in an hour and I know I'm overreacting to like, oh my god we have to go right now. It's actually getting way too smoky in here and so I ended up putting a dog I've saw Desmond, my cat was in my bedroom. So I shut the door so that I could trap him in there at least get his cart cat carrier. And I put, you know, Dori and Atticus on their harnesses and leashes, put them in my car in my garage, cracked the window on my car in my garage because I wasn't really sure kind of how to manage that went and got Desmond talked to my neighbor and my neighbor's daughter was home. And they have a cat. So I told her to get the cat ready. And then I was able to, I still had electricity. So I pulled out of my driveway into hers. And at that point, the smoke was so thick that I was afraid to open my car door to kind of go help her because I was afraid I would then trap us in the car with smoke, and that we wouldn't be able to breathe on the way out or I wouldn't be able to see. And she had her cat. She's a teenager, you know, she had the cat in the home and she was kind of panicking a little bit and I was also afraid to go in knowing that ginger would probably bolt if a stranger just walked into the house and the big, you know, flurry of smoke. So I texted her kind of curtly from the car and said get ginger in her carrier. You know and as soon as I see you I'll open the door to the car and let you in. Which is what I did. So she was able to get ginger into her big carrier. And she open the garage door and cheap suck you know shoeless teenager, we didn't notice she didn't even have shoes on. Brought her car out cat out and we put ginger in the car, my in the car. And then we were able to get on St. Andrews, we were able to, right as we were turning out of our neighborhood, they blocked off Dylan towards McCaslin Oh, it was right when cars were having to turn around and get sent towards Lafayette or that way. So we really lucked out in time, just in terms of the amount of time it took us to get out of the neighborhood. It was right before kind of things are getting good Locky. And it was really amazing to see the you know, either the police officers or whoever kind of came in to just start directing traffic, they had no masks, no hats, no goggles, you know, it was just flying debris. And they were just doing their thing and made it pretty orderly. But you know, I had cars coming kind of panic cars coming out of the neighborhood, everybody was speeding and that kind of thing. So we knew it was time. Yeah. And then we were just able to sneak our way over to my former husband in Lafayette. And my son was already there. So we got lucky where he had my pets have stayed with him before. So they had a familiar environment, including my cat. And we kept ginger, my neighbor's cat, you know, in her carrier in a separate room, and he had cat litter box for both everything. So we were able to keep ginger kind of isolated so that she wouldn't freak out even more. And then we kept my cat in this room here, you know, didn't let him out kind of with the dogs knowing that even though you know, it was familiar territory, everybody was still pretty worked up in the dogs.
Libby 23:24
So because of the experience that we had in Colorado with the wildfires last year and years before, you had kind of gone through the scenario before in your head.
Lisa 23:36
Yeah. And I think that's what, you know, at when I got here, I realized, wow, I had all the stuff. I really needed, you know, had the food. I knew where I was going. I knew to call the neighbor. Yeah. So I must, you know, have some kind of mental exercise, you know, maybe had helped. And so, you know, that's kind of what I was thinking of, for all of us around here. You know, to have that kind of preparation may be could really come in handy.
Libby 24:13
Wow, we're so glad that you did and you're able to get your animals and yourself and your neighbor out safely. That's an incredible story. What really strikes me is how fast it all happened.
Emily 24:27
When you were leaving, and those cops were directing traffic, were they letting people back in if people had left their animals at home, or
Lisa 24:37
in some cases permitting people to go in different directions. They were mostly trying to turn people around.
Emily 24:44
Do you knew what time you left?
Lisa 24:46
It was 1:37pm and so we probably left the driveway about 1:45pm
Emily 24:53
Okay, so really fast because I think they think the fire started around 11 Potentially it's have not known but you know, for it to go was miles and miles,
Lisa 25:04
um, and my house is still standing, which was very weird to see what because of where it is. So, um, but, um, my fence was blunt some of my fence was blown down. My Christmas lights are still up like it's just bananas to see that. And inside there it my garage has a lot of soot and smoke in it and then inside the house has definitely it still smells like smoke. I can't tell if it's really, really bad, or if it's okay, you know, I can get all the material stuff out, I don't know. But now I've been back a few times. So yeah, it was pretty untouched inside except for have a white kitchen table that's against the windows and that hadn't SIP all over it. So I know somehow something came in maybe you know, from the windows or vents or something like that. But the story that I got from my neighbors was so there's a neighbor a few houses down who don't know what, you know, he works for the city or the state or something like that stuff buddies and his buddies were holding back some homes behind us and protected his home. So got protected, you know, our little bank of homes, so they were all hosed down in the back. And they called another fire battalion that ended up holding the line right at the end of our street. So on the other side of Dylan was a part of Pole Creek that was complete, no houses left. And it didn't skip over Dylan and went along the creek, they held it there. And that's kind of where my house is, you know, our little kind of houses were in the behind us, there was more fire damage. So yeah, I've been back, I was able to that morning, you know, having other folks told me what to do. Turn off my water, flush my pipes, all that kind of stuff before it got cold. And then I was in yesterday. And my utilities are back on. So it was starting to warm up and stuff like that. So yeah.
Libby 27:26
So how are you preserving a sense of normalcy, I mean, so far as you can for yourself and your pets,
Lisa 27:36
we I treated it as introducing pets to a new environment for the first time, that's kind of where my mentality was on that. So with Desmond my cat, we just had him in one room, you know, and opened his carrier and let him roam in there for a couple of days, before letting him just even come out into the house. So that he just could kick it down a notch. Um, and with the dogs, you know, I have to walk them on leashes here, for every, you know, walk instead of in my yard, they can just go outside. Um, so I tried to you know, I have their same food, I wasn't able to get their same food where I went, you know, and so I've mixed that with some new food to try to make that a little bit easier. Got them a couple of new toys to have here. And there allowed, you know, kind of access all over the house. And my son's here. So you know, they're familiar with kind of people and all that kind of stuff. And the neighbors moved on from as of yesterday and went to a hotel so things kind of calmed down a little bit. We just tried to keep it as quiet and you know, just kind of as quiet and without any extra frenzy. You know, my normal dog walkers that I keep a couple of times a week even though I work from home, because I want them to have a dog walker friends. My mom is really really sick. So I've been traveling a lot to Rhode Island. And with Dory, you know, it may just be standing in the backyard and stand there. That might be as far as you know, she could go and just kind of pattern give her an opportunity to do her thing you know, but a walk may not be that hard for her in this situation.
Libby 29:34
Well, it's great that you're kind of taking cues from her and not trying to push her past what she's ready for.
Emily 29:42
Oh, you're such a good dog mom. We're so thrilled that you made it out okay.
Libby 29:54
Next we'll speak with Leslie Irvine. She's a sociologist and professor of sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of filling the Ark Animal welfare in disasters. So we here at the podcast wanted to talk about why there is very little attention to the animal side of this terrible fire tragedy. You know, we heard a governor polis talk about no loss of life, which now we know is there is there have been humans human lives lost. But we as animal rescue people heard that and thought, ooh, ooh. And you wrote the book about this about the role that companion animals, wildlife and our food animals play in disaster recovery. So can you kind of speak to both of these impulses?
Leslie 31:04
In a catastrophic situation like this? And others, human life is a priority for first responders. So it's unfortunate that animals and humans are considered separately, but I do understand the need to devote resources and attention to human life.
Emily 31:33
Yes, definitely. I agree with that, too. I think it's what was, you know, you probably heard this, too, was like, the fact that they don't differentiate that it's human, like, no human lives were lost. But they kept on saying, no lives were lost. Like, for me, I wanted them to just say, no human lives were lost, like to give some attention and start the conversation that there are other lives affected.
Leslie 31:59
Exactly, just to say, what you said no human lives, or you know, only a few human lives, but we know that many, many animals will have been lost.
Libby 32:13
And our focus on the podcast is mainly companion animals, but an aspect that hasn't even been talked about as the wildlife. Do you know how wildlife is affected in wildfires like this? Well, it's not even a wildfire. It's an urban fire is fire. Yeah, fire storm. You know, that's another aspect that we probably won't come to understand for years. But do you have any examples from previous wildfires of the effect on wildlife?
Leslie 32:56
Yeah, then the most comprehensive research on this topic comes from Australia. And they've suffered just terrible. They refer to them as bushfires, what we would call wildfires. But, you know, so many of their native species have been threatened, and some may never even recover. So we know that the loss of habitat is catastrophic, and not necessarily the loss of habitat, but the the disruption of patterns, you know, we'll have human incursions into new places will have land moving equipment will have heavy construction equipment, and all of that is necessary, but wildlife already doesn't have a place to go. And we're, you know, we're talking about in the affected areas, mostly smaller animals, but they're, they're part of, they're part of the landscape and the environment, too. They're part of what we value about living in Colorado, and in many cases, their prey for other species like hawks and other raptors and at will, the impact will be significant.
Libby 34:27
Yeah, I Well, I can imagine the areas of superior and Lewisville that were affected. I I used to live in that area and I would see coyotes there all the time. And we know that mountain lions move through those corridors and things like that. So our areas, do you know, you know, now that those animals are being pushed out, how is that wildlife human interface going to change? How can we prepare ourselves for kind of a changing landscape?
Leslie 35:01
A good question where we're already finding, you know, different points of contact as as animals are pushed out of their habitat increasingly into ours, I think we have to prepare ourselves for what is unfortunately referred to as human wildlife conflict. If we could somehow emphasize the coexistence, it would be better than just assuming that it's going to be conflict. But I think there will be lots of animals who will be in places where we haven't seen them before. Fortunately, this fire did not occur during breeding or Denning season, so we won't be seeing a lot of orphaned animals. But we'll be seeing a lot of animals who have no place to go. And as I said, they're already running out of space. So I think we need to take a more compassionate attitude toward coexistence and not just try to keep them out of what supposedly our our environment.
Libby 36:21
Yeah, I love that. You know, the way you phrase that coexistence versus conflict, just changing, that little bit of language we use can have such an impact on our species interaction. Are there other ways we can change the way we talk about not only the wildlife but our companion animals, in the midst of a tragedy like this, I think
Leslie 36:49
it's really important to recognize that what we consider society are uniquely human accomplishment actually involves animals in every aspect, whether we talk about economic, emotional, psychological, we rely on animals in countless ways, and so we have obligations to them, because of our interdependence, and if we can recognize that I think we can find ways to improve the outcomes for humans and for animals, both wild and domestic.
Libby 37:35
I, That's so true. It is a very human construct to say that this is our human world, and but really, they've been along with us the entire way. And so often, we depend on them for not only food, but our emotional support and companionship, they
Leslie 38:00
absolutely do that animals are woven into society in countless ways.
Emily 38:05
And everyone I know who was in the fire and had to flee. Luckily, everyone we knew, was home and got to bring their companion pets with them. But that was their first priority, like those animals are their family. And so I've loved that you're trying to move that conversation forward, that they are part of this picture and a catastrophe, and they should be included in the conversation.
Libby 38:31
Is there any anything else you think that we should be talking about when we talk about disaster recovery in our companion animals?
Leslie 38:41
The message I always try to get across is let's shift the focus from recovery to preparation. I want to emphasize the importance of sitting down and thinking about what hazards people you as an individual or as a family as a household face. Are you susceptible to wildfires? Or is it mostly blizzards? Is it mostly wind? Is it flooding, what what is likely to happen? And and just as you would figure out where you're going to go figure out what you're going to do for your animals. And there are lots of resources online available for how to put together a go bag for your animals and how to have the resources on hand to shelter in place for up to 72 hours. That includes you know, making sure that your food making sure that you have medications. And if you have to evacuate, make sure that you have identification for the animals that if your animals are microchipped and I hope they would be that the contact information is up to date. When I were didn't have the response after Hurricane Katrina, that was a huge problem animals that were microchipped. Even if you could contact people, they weren't at those phone numbers anymore. Make sure you have alternate contacts. Make sure you have medications or for your animals or you know how to get them. i In our house, we have the veterinary records copied and put in a plastic sleeve and they're near the cat carrier, so that if we have to leave all that information goes with the cats. Grab a disposable litter box, make sure that your animals have you know, identification medication, food, and make a plan for someplace to go. If you have to leave is there you know a friend or relative or a hotel. And make sure you have carriers for all your cat's leashes for all your dogs. And these days, everybody has pictures of their animals on their phone. But but make sure it's a good picture. So that let's say you're in a situation where you have to say I've lost my black and white tuxedo cat. Well, they look a lot alike. But if you have a picture that shows there's a little bit of a difference in that stocking on the right front leg or something like that, that can distinguish your cat from, you know, dozens of other tuxedo cats. That's important. So all of that information is available. Online, just we don't like to think about the worst that could happen. But as I said it, it shifts the burden from recovery to preparation.
Libby 41:55
That's so important. And if it comes down to evacuating I, you're gonna have to correct me on these exact details. But I read in your book that it's now legally, they can't deny you evacuation. If you have a pet with you, is that correct?
Leslie 42:16
Well, that's what they the pets Act that was passed into law a 2006 insured. However, it doesn't mean that any rescuer is required to save your pet. So you, communities are supposed to make plans that include companion and service animals, but individual owners still have responsibility for making those plants. The priority is is sheltering humans, and there are so many ways that humans can be put at risk by sheltering animals too. I'm a big advocate for CO sheltering arrangements. But that doesn't mean that my animal has to be housed next to somebody who's afraid or allergic or something like that.
Libby 43:08
Yeah, finding ways to meet everyone's needs is crucial in the wake of a disaster like this. Thank you so much for your time, Leslie.
Leslie 43:17
My pleasure.
Libby 43:22
Finally, let's speak with Natalie Riggs. She is the Director of cavies and canines animal rescue, and she's telling the story of the miraculous recovery of 11 Foster guinea pigs from a home that was affected by the fire.
So Natalie Riggs of cavies and canine Animal Rescue, welcome to pod to the rescue. And thank you so much for taking the time to be here.
Natalie 43:54
Yeah, thank you for inviting me.
Emily 43:56
So I was on that folder fire Lost and Found Pets page. Pretty much the day the night of the fire. I got on it. And I feel like I followed your story from the first post and I was completely, you know, emotionally and heart wholeheartedly invested. And so I was hoping you could just take us through like, the entire experience for our listeners.
Natalie 44:26
Yeah, I mean, it was a it was a total whirlwind and a roller coaster i i joined the page pretty late that evening as well. After I had found out that the homeowner had to evacuate in the drop of a hat and only able to take one of the pigs with her. And this homeowner actually she has foster for us and she foster fails. I think nine out of the 11 getting eight or nine out of the 11 She has foster failed so every time she has fostered she has a But, of course, I'm emotionally invested in all of these piggies as well. I know them personally. A lot of them have been medical cases or abuse and neglect cases and already been through the wringer. So of course, we're all very emotional. Our Vice President, Alyssa was out of town. And the homeowner was actually babysitting two of her hairless guinea pigs, who we were pretty sure if they survived the fire, we're not going to survive the freezing temperatures. So the first news we got was actually quite unfortunate, because the address one digit off, I had a wonderful volunteer firefighter, go over super late at night, pretty much just to verify whether the home was even standing, and unfortunately received the news that it was not. So had to break that news to everyone. And it was probably a full day before we got news that somehow there was a mistake, I actually had two separate parties verify the whole was no longer standing, no possibility of survivors. And somehow, by some miracle, we got the opposite news about a day later, after, of course, everyone is grieving that the the property was not even damaged. On the other side of the complex, all the houses were either destroyed or damaged. But I just decide what was perfectly fine. So at this point, we're like, well, we there's a chance to guinea pigs are live. So let's get them out. Well, easier said than done. With the National Guard and all the safety restrictions. Even the homeowner herself could not get to the residence. And then of course, we have the giant snowstorm. road conditions even more impossible. And then I think it was six degrees or something the next night in Boulder superior So and there's no utilities on in the house. And we're like, oh gosh, well, well insulated house, so maybe they'll survive one night, but certainly not to certainly not three. Not to mention, who knows how much food and water the animals have. Not sure how much you know about guinea pigs, but guinea pigs literally need to be eating 24/7 Having fiber moving through, or they can go into gi stasis, which is very hard to reverse. So the amount of things that could have gone wrong with these support animals is pretty overwhelming. And we're thinking there's there's just no way that they're going to make it out alive. And it was seemingly impossible to get folks even into the area to, to check. So by, by some miracle, I mean, I have to thank Steph Webber from the that Facebook page, who was an administrator there, connecting with the authorities, she stayed up pretty much all night with me, coordinating with Boulder County Animal Services, Boulder County Office of Emergency Management, the sheriff's office, and somehow was able to literally work a miracle and get a select few people, including a veterinarian, Dr. Kelsey Stokes, to enter the residence. And then of course, we have a spare key but the homeowner here in Fort Collins, where it were I am, and the gentleman that had her spare key. You know, it's late at night, he was going to bed. He's an older fellow and started to become a little concerned that this was not legitimate. So we had to talk to that gentleman, convince him that we are real people good intention to humans and get that key to enter the residence. And then I mean, I'm up. It's been days at this point. And we're just we're expecting devastating news, but at least hoping we can provide closure to these two individuals. And I just got the message. Gosh, I can't even remember.
I had I had a foster parent there who was local. Dr. Kelsey Stokes Was there some representatives from Soul dog rescue and sunshine Fire Protection District, and I just got the message that all 11 were alive and we're like, oh my gosh, I just can't believe it. So of course they just throw in carriers and get them here to Fort Collins so I can check them out. And we're still expecting I mean, three of these guinea pigs were paralysed in freezing temperatures, so I'm like, okay, or are they going to have health issues down the road? Any of them have their digestive system shutting down at this point, dehydration, and miraculously, every guinea pig is perfectly fine, happy and healthy, a little freaked out. But I I have a cute picture. One of them I think. I actually don't know his age, but if I were to guess I would say he's an older Piggy and I've I'm keeping them all for the homeowner right now in my own house and I just fell in love with him. It's like he was so thankful to be rescued. I picked him out of his carrier and he just exploded on me. They just just stretched out his front and back legs yawn gave me kisses. And he was like, Oh, it's over. I'm saying. So it was that. Yeah, a really happy ending for everyone.
Libby 50:11
Wow, Natalie, you can't see me right now. My jaw is literally on the floor. What an amazing story.
Natalie 50:18
Oh, yeah, so many of us were, I mean, we were just crying happy tears, we couldn't stop. And I mean, I, I had hundreds, literally hundreds of messages and people following the case, and just being able to copy and paste over and over and over. All 11 are alive, we'll post more soon. For all those people. I know, we've made a lot of a lot of days a lot better when, during a time when people are seeing so much bad news and probably experiencing tragedy themselves.
Libby 50:47
Absolutely. This is like a huge, bright spot in the animal rescue story following this tragedy.
Emily 50:55
And it's so heartening that all those government officials and veterinarians and sold dog rescue and sunshine cannon, like all these fire officials came together to save the guinea pigs. Like that's a story that is incredible.
Natalie 51:09
I know. Yeah. And it was midnight, like it was after midnight, when all of these authorities are on a conference call coordinating an exception and trying to get through to save these animals. I mean, it's it's New Year's day after midnight. It's just Yeah, super, super humbling
Emily 51:29
restores my faith. And she might like that.
Natalie 51:34
I know. And I mean, I mean, there's so many people to this day in the boulder area that don't know, either have confirmed that they've lost their pets or or don't know, their pet is missing. And you know, just just to be able to provide that hope that, you know, maybe they will be found and maybe they will be okay, because it happened to us 11 times over. So I hope that that gives them folks going through probably the worst time in their life.
Emily 52:01
And it actually helps because, you know, one thing that we were kind of, you know, just hurt by or like that kind of touched us was we kept on hearing on the news, like the official saying like, no lives were lost, or now they're saying like, perhaps two lives that are like investigating. And, and for us as animal lovers and part of that page in this community. Like this. Now, it's I think it's 72 animals, companion pets are still missing. And for us to hear, like no lives for loss, we're like, oh my God, but we're all like looking. You know, we're like, these lives are so important to us. And so to know that actually, to all those officials that worked on these guinea pigs, like those lives mattered so much they liked, they get up extra late in the middle of a major national crisis. You know, to be to be looking for your guinea pigs is really great. Um,
Natalie 52:56
so yeah, we're getting there. I mean, sometimes guinea pigs don't get they don't get the press or people you know, assume that they don't necessarily matter like a dog and a cat. But I mean, they're, they do their personalities are just as intense as my dogs and my cat, then I mean, for this for this homeowner. I don't believe she has any children. She she's not married. So this is this is her whole world. These These were her, her baby her whole life and she thought it was all gone. And she didn't lose any.
Emily 53:34
So were these piccies like 11 piggies in one cage or were they in pairs of two? How does that look?
Natalie 53:42
So she I actually haven't seen her her setup. But the authorities that went in and the volunteers I had all told me it was just shocking how loved and spoiled these piggies are, I mean, they're in 16 foot enclosures each it's It's lovely, I heard, but yeah, most of them are paired up. She has a couple of singles that are either looking for a friend or not getting along with other guinea pigs. And then she has one sweet trio, which is to neglected girls. She foster failed for us probably a year ago with one of her neutered males and they're all living together as a happy family.
Libby 54:20
Do you know how cold it got in the house overnight?
Natalie 54:23
I don't know how cold it got in the house. I mean, I know like it was I think six degrees outside at the coldest night and then around 930 The night before they were rescued. Soul dog rescue somehow pulled some strings and was able to get the gas turned on to that property. Just so you know if there were any survivors, they would have that much more of a chance to make it so morning until they could get into the residence and check on them.
Emily 54:52
God soul dog rescue seems to have just been amazing in this in this crisis.
Natalie 54:59
Yeah. they went they just went so far above and beyond when they reached out to me and, and again i They don't do guinea pigs, they're their their dogs. So just to have them contribute their expertise and be willing to help another species with, you know, no strings attached, no questions asked. They're just like, Let's get in. Let's get these piggies Yeah, super, super thankful for them they did such an amazing job.
Libby 55:24
Is there anything else that we didn't talk about that you want our listeners to know about? This incredible rescue from the Firestorm and the aftermath?
Natalie 55:34
Well, again, I just want to I want to thank Steph Webber from the Lost and Found Pets page. Again, she stayed up all night with me coordinating this with the authorities. My team members Alyssa Daniels, Jessica Hartman, Kristen Earle. Even our junior volunteer is the Dora who's directly in the boulder area, just even covering for me and doing meet and greets and such while I'm trying to coordinate these efforts, I can't thank them enough. Dr. Kelsey Stokes, Soul dog rescue and their team. Everybody has just been above and beyond amazing and making this happen. So I'm beyond thankful for all of those individuals.
Emily 56:13
Yeah. Well, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. This is such an amazing rescue story. Yeah.
Natalie 56:20
Yes. Yes. Thank you so much for having me and I, again, I really hope that this can at least provide some hope to those that are still missing there for babies, but hopefully they're they're found safe and regardless, I hope folks can get some closure and wait on the community support to recover from such an awesome master.
Libby 57:03
Thanks for tuning in. If you liked this episode, don't forget to rate and review and helps other folks like you find the show. To find out more about our programming and adoptable rescue dogs. You can visit summit dog rescue.org thanks to Mike pesci for the original music and to Alex Lee Ammons and for the love media for graphics production and editing. See you soon on pod to the rescue.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Welcome to pod to the rescue.
Libby 0:11
Rescuing the dog is just the first step. We're here to help with everything that comes next.
Hey, listeners, welcome back to pod to the rescue. I'm Libby. And I'm Emily. And today we are bringing you a special episode covering the recent Marshal fire that burned through superior and Louisville, Colorado as well as unincorporated Boulder County. This happened beginning on December 30. And we're based in Boulder. This is our backyard. You know, I used to live in Superior and Lewisville, we have adopters who had to evacuate. We have adopters in these communities. It's this is very, very close to home.
Emily 1:02
We have several adopters who lost their houses. But luckily, all our adopters in that area did manage to get out with their pets, which is truly a miracle given how fast these fires moved through that area. It was just a blessing.
Libby 1:18
Yeah, this fire was really unimaginable. So in Colorado, we're no strangers to wildfires, but this they're calling an urban Firestorm, because it started in grasslands. But it quickly spread. Because the wind that day was over 100 miles an hour at some points. It quickly spread across the grasslands, to suburban areas. And these are areas that would never expect to be affected by Wildfire.
Emily 1:53
And they're so densely populated, there was you know, a hotel got taken out and the target got taken out and densely populated houses close together. So the fire just whipped it, you know, football fields per second is how fast it was moving.
Libby 2:12
It's really unimaginable. We know that a total of 991 structures were destroyed by the fire. And while it is now contained in the perimeter won't grow any further. There were times when the firefighters really couldn't do anything to fight this because the wind was so strong. And it happened so fast.
Emily 2:43
And the sad reality is that there are people who were either gone from their home shopping or at work or taking their grandchildren to, you know, an event and their pets were at home. So since we're so focused on animals on this podcast, we've been deeply involved with the community, watching some of the recoveries watching reunited pets with their people. And we've been also heartbroken about some of the dogs and cats that just have not been found, because the people couldn't get back to them no fault of their own.
Libby 3:21
Yeah, we just really want to make that clear that this there's nothing normal about this tragedy. It's not people didn't have notice about this. You know, even even people who received reverse 911 phone calls, sometimes they had only minutes to leave their houses. So this was by no stretch of the imagination, a normal wildfire scenario where you have time, you know that it's coming. Nobody knew this was coming.
Emily 3:55
And I feel like our conversations that we did kind of spur on the moment in the last 24 hours, we talked a lot about how people can prepare in the future. And there were some good pointers that some of our guests brought up even though this was you know, such a rare exceptional events, I think preparedness in the future. Hopefully people can take that away from this podcast with a few pointers as to how we can all be a little bit more organized because this might be our future with climate change.
Libby 4:26
Absolutely, it's, we all need to think about what could happen and it's depressing. But, you know, there are some really, really important tips in this episode, which I hope that all of you listeners will take to heart. So for this episode, we spoke with the CEO of Humane Society of Boulder Valley, Jan McHugh Smith about the Humane Society's response to this disaster and other disasters. and some of the some of the services that they're offering the community now and throughout the year. We also spoke with an estimate dog rescue adopter, Lisa Weiland, who evacuated from the fire with her two summit dogs, Pat, and she was also able to evacuate her neighbor's daughter who's a teenager and her neighbor's cat. And her story is, so I mean, harrowing, harrowing, and we it really puts into perspective how fast this thing moved. We also spoke with Colorado University sociologist Lesley Ervin, about the bigger picture, and why in the early news coverage of this fire, we weren't seeing anything about the companion animals. You know, we kept hearing that there was no loss of life or limited loss of life. And as animal rescuers, we knew that there were going to be some pets who died in this fire. And so why is it that when we discuss a natural disaster, we often forget about the pets and even wildlife who are impacted. And finally, we spoke with Natalie Riggs, the director of cavies, and canines Animal Rescue, about the Super heartwarming story of finding 11 of their guinea pigs still alive after 72 hours of trying to get some news about what had happened to all of these foster in Guinea pigs. listeners. This is going to be a two part episode because there's so much to cover here. We are going to speak with friends of the podcast, Chrissy Messick and Mary Anjali about how you can ease anxiety and support your dog behaviorally. If you're ever in a situation where you are displaced, or you're going through a major trauma like this. First we speak with Jan McHugh Smith, CEO of Humane Society of Boulder Valley. So can you start by telling us how boulder humane has been responding to this disaster, the urban firestorm in Louisville and Superior.
Jan 7:37
So our mission is to keep people and pets together. And we partner with Boulder County Animal Control when it comes to disaster response. So the Humane Society houses animals for evacuation, that are lost, and animals that just you know need a new home. So during the fire, we started to get animals in from animal folder, County Animal Control. And then we started to have families arrive who needed temporary housing during the evacuation. We took in about 50 animals.
Libby 8:11
Wow. And how many of those have you been able to reunite with their owners so far? You know, if they were brought in by animal control,
Jan 8:21
we've been able to reclaim all but one. We have nine animals that were we're holding for their guardians. Their guardians are in temporary housing, so they're trying to figure out their living situation. So we're going to hold those animals for them. We provide free boarding as a part of our safety net services.
Libby 8:43
That's amazing. So boulder humane is really providing a landing place for the displaced dogs and cats who are fleeing from the fire or whoever evacuated.
Jan 8:57
Yes, and then the other role replay is the Lost and Found role. So Boulder County Animal Control, tries to get people to send all their lost pet information and also found pet information as you know, many wonderful citizens found animals. And we get all of that into our computer system and our we have a dedicated team of staff members who match last and found together to try to reunite families.
Emily 9:23
Wow, what an amazing resource for our community. We've always been big fans of Boulder humane but I think as a community, we're really blessed to have such an incredible resource during especially a time of crisis like this.
Jan 9:35
And I want to put a shout out there for Longmont Humane Society because I know they were standing by they were ready and they have some animals over at their place to for a family that needed some assistance.
Emily 9:45
Oh, that's right. They did all the large animals over there. I think all the horses went to Longmont humane
Jan 9:50
they're on the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds is run by another entity in Boulder County and they take care of all the horses and when that was a fourth that was full animals went over to Jefferson County. So Jefferson county response team handled those animals over there. And the good news is all but three of those horses have gone home. And I think three of them are those last three are being picked up today.
Emily 10:18
For a while, I believe is this the biggest disaster crisis that you've dealt with? I've know we've had other wildland fires, and we've had the flood in 2013. Does this seem like the largest animal need that you've seen,
Jan 10:33
I worked at the Humane Society, the Pikes Peak region in 2012, and 13. So I was part of the response team for the Waldo Canyon fire, and the black forest fire. So those events were so different from this event, though, every fire is different. You know, so suburban area was burned up in Waldo Canyon. But people were able to get their pets, many of them were able to get their pets out. And then the Black Forest Fire lasted so long. And so we had a lot of a lot longer period of housing animals, trying to match animals. And then the recovery phase. Obviously, this is the largest fire in Colorado with almost 1000 homes loss, because other fires were between five and 650 homes. What's interesting, though, is that the Waldo Canyon fire, we had a much larger response, we have 680 animals in that fire. And this fire rehouse 50. And what that says to me is that people are really understanding the need to evacuate with their pets. Now, it's been a decade. And I think there's been a lot of education about preparedness, and go bags for your pet and your people.
Libby 11:51
Yeah, that's been a really important thing that we've talked to a lot of people about putting together this episode. And something really heartwarming to us is the support of community members who really want to work together to get these animals reunited with their guardians. Do you have any advice for people who want to help?
Jan 12:12
Well, when when a disaster happens, we turn to our trained volunteers first. So if people are interested in being involved in in situations like this in the future, I would encourage them to find a group to volunteer with and get proper training, so that they can be saved. In the Incident Command System, people are not supposed to self deploy and go out and do rescues on their own, it's very dangerous. And it also can put other officers in danger, people are responding to her three times to the same home and the animals are gone. Those are homes that, you know, other homes may not be met as quickly as possible. So I think in my mind, I would encourage people to volunteer and I know there are lots of shelters, including ours that are meeting volunteers. The donations that people gave us were amazing and a huge help to the families, we've been out at the Disaster Assistance Center at Lafayette handing out food and beverage, collars, supplies, all kinds of stuff. And people are just been so grateful. So thanks to everybody who donated. And then obviously cash donations are a big help. We can buy things much cheaper than in the store. And also we can use that money to pay for veterinary care, we did provide some assistance in that area. During the fires, we can help people with pet deposits as they're trying to look for a place to live. And it supports our safety net services year round. We have year round disasters for individuals, as well as these communities disasters. So we're able to provide discounted or free veterinary care in some circumstances, and people can go to our website, Boulder humane that org, and let us know what their needs are, and we'll try to help them out.
Libby 13:59
That's amazing. There's a lot of support you provide throughout the year that I had no idea about.
Jan 14:05
I know it's true. The other piece is behavior. We saw animals come in that were completely shut down. And we have a behavior team and they were able to get in there, start working with that animal, provide some drugs that would help that animal to relax it was in that team did a great job of helping these animals acclimate so many changes in such a short period of time.
Libby 14:27
Yeah, big kudos to them. We're big behavior nerds on this podcast. And so we're just like, oh my gosh, how are these? How are these pets doing? Emotionally? Behavior wise? So have you seen improvements in those dogs and cats?
Jan 14:43
Well, the biggest improvements when their guardian shows them and they're reunited. Oh my gosh, the joy on the human and animal side is so amazing and heartwarming.
Libby 14:54
What advice do you have for pet owners? God forbid any have us ever have to go through this. But what is the most important thing, when it comes to reuniting with your pet after a disaster
Jan 15:10
It's being prepared before the disaster. That's the most important thing. And it sounds like you've talked about this before. But what I really recommend is get your pet microchipped and get the microchip registered. That's a really important step. Update your registration. If you've moved, make sure you have a go bag. So you want to make sure you have your pets vaccination records, many medications, leashes, collars, anything that would help your pet be acclimate during a situation like this. And then you want to have your own go bag, where you would have clothing, right? The amount of time these folks had to get out of their home was so small, I've heard seven to 10 minutes, trying to gather those things together. When you're trying to save your own family's life. I can't even imagine how difficult that must be. But being prepared, knowing where you want to go, once you get evacuated, is just really important steps to take to prevent your family from getting in harm's way.
Emily 16:10
I was also thinking maybe people need to do like neighborhood pods. A lot of the people we know who rescued their dogs also were so close with their neighbors that they went and got their neighbor's dog. And so maybe something in the future we could promote is like a neighbor pod. Because if you were 20 minutes away during this fire, you couldn't get back to get your pet, which is heartbreaking.
Jan 16:31
Yeah, make friends with your neighbors, maybe exchange keys.
Emily 16:35
Great idea.
Jan 16:36
Because once the fire starts when the evacuation starts, you're right, it's very difficult and sometimes impossible to get back in.
Libby 16:43
I think that was something about this particular disaster that was so shocking is it was unexpected in such a suburban environment. And it moved so quickly. And I think it's just pointing to the need for everyone to take a look at our own preparedness for anything that any disaster that could come upon us. Is there anything else about boulder humains response that you'd like to add that that you're doing that we'd like to get out there.
Jan 17:14
I want to thank everybody who was so generous donating supplies and food for the community. We're doing really well in that area. So thank you so much. I think this is going to be a long recovery and that there are going to be ongoing needs for families, not only for their own housing, but for their pets fencing, right place to live that allows pets, so it's going to be a long recovery. And I just want us to all the state really conscious about that. And help help our neighbors out as much as we can.
Libby 17:46
Wonderful. Thank you, Jan, so much for your time today. And thank you for all the work you're doing to help the animals out and guardians out in the wake of this terrible disaster.
Jan 17:57
Thank you
Libby 18:08
Next, we'll go to Lisa Weiland, who has the story of her escape from the fire with her two summit dogs, her cat, her neighbor and her neighbor's cat
we would just like to ask you about your experience of evacuating and what it was like and then if you've been able to go back and kind of see what it looks like in your neighborhood
Lisa 18:35
think from the last big fires we had in the mountains where we got a lot of set on you know, in my neighborhood, I kind of went into action there and probably at the time went overboard and got you know, went like full safety you know, fire blankets, gloves, emergency kits, and did a lot of that thinking then I think of okay, you know, if there is an emergency here, I'm going to need the pet food, the beds, all this kind of stuff. So I started thinking, all right, I probably don't need to do any of this. Maybe I should just start walking around seeing what I should bring if I have to evacuate for some reason. And so I still was able to do that pretty calmly and just kind of go through and you know, grab some documents, grab a couple of computers get my pet food and you know they're in containers. And by the time I kind of had that first round, it shifted from you know, that feeling of this is probably silly. I'm gonna pull all this stuff out of my car in an hour and I know I'm overreacting to like, oh my god we have to go right now. It's actually getting way too smoky in here and so I ended up putting a dog I've saw Desmond, my cat was in my bedroom. So I shut the door so that I could trap him in there at least get his cart cat carrier. And I put, you know, Dori and Atticus on their harnesses and leashes, put them in my car in my garage, cracked the window on my car in my garage because I wasn't really sure kind of how to manage that went and got Desmond talked to my neighbor and my neighbor's daughter was home. And they have a cat. So I told her to get the cat ready. And then I was able to, I still had electricity. So I pulled out of my driveway into hers. And at that point, the smoke was so thick that I was afraid to open my car door to kind of go help her because I was afraid I would then trap us in the car with smoke, and that we wouldn't be able to breathe on the way out or I wouldn't be able to see. And she had her cat. She's a teenager, you know, she had the cat in the home and she was kind of panicking a little bit and I was also afraid to go in knowing that ginger would probably bolt if a stranger just walked into the house and the big, you know, flurry of smoke. So I texted her kind of curtly from the car and said get ginger in her carrier. You know and as soon as I see you I'll open the door to the car and let you in. Which is what I did. So she was able to get ginger into her big carrier. And she open the garage door and cheap suck you know shoeless teenager, we didn't notice she didn't even have shoes on. Brought her car out cat out and we put ginger in the car, my in the car. And then we were able to get on St. Andrews, we were able to, right as we were turning out of our neighborhood, they blocked off Dylan towards McCaslin Oh, it was right when cars were having to turn around and get sent towards Lafayette or that way. So we really lucked out in time, just in terms of the amount of time it took us to get out of the neighborhood. It was right before kind of things are getting good Locky. And it was really amazing to see the you know, either the police officers or whoever kind of came in to just start directing traffic, they had no masks, no hats, no goggles, you know, it was just flying debris. And they were just doing their thing and made it pretty orderly. But you know, I had cars coming kind of panic cars coming out of the neighborhood, everybody was speeding and that kind of thing. So we knew it was time. Yeah. And then we were just able to sneak our way over to my former husband in Lafayette. And my son was already there. So we got lucky where he had my pets have stayed with him before. So they had a familiar environment, including my cat. And we kept ginger, my neighbor's cat, you know, in her carrier in a separate room, and he had cat litter box for both everything. So we were able to keep ginger kind of isolated so that she wouldn't freak out even more. And then we kept my cat in this room here, you know, didn't let him out kind of with the dogs knowing that even though you know, it was familiar territory, everybody was still pretty worked up in the dogs.
Libby 23:24
So because of the experience that we had in Colorado with the wildfires last year and years before, you had kind of gone through the scenario before in your head.
Lisa 23:36
Yeah. And I think that's what, you know, at when I got here, I realized, wow, I had all the stuff. I really needed, you know, had the food. I knew where I was going. I knew to call the neighbor. Yeah. So I must, you know, have some kind of mental exercise, you know, maybe had helped. And so, you know, that's kind of what I was thinking of, for all of us around here. You know, to have that kind of preparation may be could really come in handy.
Libby 24:13
Wow, we're so glad that you did and you're able to get your animals and yourself and your neighbor out safely. That's an incredible story. What really strikes me is how fast it all happened.
Emily 24:27
When you were leaving, and those cops were directing traffic, were they letting people back in if people had left their animals at home, or
Lisa 24:37
in some cases permitting people to go in different directions. They were mostly trying to turn people around.
Emily 24:44
Do you knew what time you left?
Lisa 24:46
It was 1:37pm and so we probably left the driveway about 1:45pm
Emily 24:53
Okay, so really fast because I think they think the fire started around 11 Potentially it's have not known but you know, for it to go was miles and miles,
Lisa 25:04
um, and my house is still standing, which was very weird to see what because of where it is. So, um, but, um, my fence was blunt some of my fence was blown down. My Christmas lights are still up like it's just bananas to see that. And inside there it my garage has a lot of soot and smoke in it and then inside the house has definitely it still smells like smoke. I can't tell if it's really, really bad, or if it's okay, you know, I can get all the material stuff out, I don't know. But now I've been back a few times. So yeah, it was pretty untouched inside except for have a white kitchen table that's against the windows and that hadn't SIP all over it. So I know somehow something came in maybe you know, from the windows or vents or something like that. But the story that I got from my neighbors was so there's a neighbor a few houses down who don't know what, you know, he works for the city or the state or something like that stuff buddies and his buddies were holding back some homes behind us and protected his home. So got protected, you know, our little bank of homes, so they were all hosed down in the back. And they called another fire battalion that ended up holding the line right at the end of our street. So on the other side of Dylan was a part of Pole Creek that was complete, no houses left. And it didn't skip over Dylan and went along the creek, they held it there. And that's kind of where my house is, you know, our little kind of houses were in the behind us, there was more fire damage. So yeah, I've been back, I was able to that morning, you know, having other folks told me what to do. Turn off my water, flush my pipes, all that kind of stuff before it got cold. And then I was in yesterday. And my utilities are back on. So it was starting to warm up and stuff like that. So yeah.
Libby 27:26
So how are you preserving a sense of normalcy, I mean, so far as you can for yourself and your pets,
Lisa 27:36
we I treated it as introducing pets to a new environment for the first time, that's kind of where my mentality was on that. So with Desmond my cat, we just had him in one room, you know, and opened his carrier and let him roam in there for a couple of days, before letting him just even come out into the house. So that he just could kick it down a notch. Um, and with the dogs, you know, I have to walk them on leashes here, for every, you know, walk instead of in my yard, they can just go outside. Um, so I tried to you know, I have their same food, I wasn't able to get their same food where I went, you know, and so I've mixed that with some new food to try to make that a little bit easier. Got them a couple of new toys to have here. And there allowed, you know, kind of access all over the house. And my son's here. So you know, they're familiar with kind of people and all that kind of stuff. And the neighbors moved on from as of yesterday and went to a hotel so things kind of calmed down a little bit. We just tried to keep it as quiet and you know, just kind of as quiet and without any extra frenzy. You know, my normal dog walkers that I keep a couple of times a week even though I work from home, because I want them to have a dog walker friends. My mom is really really sick. So I've been traveling a lot to Rhode Island. And with Dory, you know, it may just be standing in the backyard and stand there. That might be as far as you know, she could go and just kind of pattern give her an opportunity to do her thing you know, but a walk may not be that hard for her in this situation.
Libby 29:34
Well, it's great that you're kind of taking cues from her and not trying to push her past what she's ready for.
Emily 29:42
Oh, you're such a good dog mom. We're so thrilled that you made it out okay.
Libby 29:54
Next we'll speak with Leslie Irvine. She's a sociologist and professor of sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of filling the Ark Animal welfare in disasters. So we here at the podcast wanted to talk about why there is very little attention to the animal side of this terrible fire tragedy. You know, we heard a governor polis talk about no loss of life, which now we know is there is there have been humans human lives lost. But we as animal rescue people heard that and thought, ooh, ooh. And you wrote the book about this about the role that companion animals, wildlife and our food animals play in disaster recovery. So can you kind of speak to both of these impulses?
Leslie 31:04
In a catastrophic situation like this? And others, human life is a priority for first responders. So it's unfortunate that animals and humans are considered separately, but I do understand the need to devote resources and attention to human life.
Emily 31:33
Yes, definitely. I agree with that, too. I think it's what was, you know, you probably heard this, too, was like, the fact that they don't differentiate that it's human, like, no human lives were lost. But they kept on saying, no lives were lost. Like, for me, I wanted them to just say, no human lives were lost, like to give some attention and start the conversation that there are other lives affected.
Leslie 31:59
Exactly, just to say, what you said no human lives, or you know, only a few human lives, but we know that many, many animals will have been lost.
Libby 32:13
And our focus on the podcast is mainly companion animals, but an aspect that hasn't even been talked about as the wildlife. Do you know how wildlife is affected in wildfires like this? Well, it's not even a wildfire. It's an urban fire is fire. Yeah, fire storm. You know, that's another aspect that we probably won't come to understand for years. But do you have any examples from previous wildfires of the effect on wildlife?
Leslie 32:56
Yeah, then the most comprehensive research on this topic comes from Australia. And they've suffered just terrible. They refer to them as bushfires, what we would call wildfires. But, you know, so many of their native species have been threatened, and some may never even recover. So we know that the loss of habitat is catastrophic, and not necessarily the loss of habitat, but the the disruption of patterns, you know, we'll have human incursions into new places will have land moving equipment will have heavy construction equipment, and all of that is necessary, but wildlife already doesn't have a place to go. And we're, you know, we're talking about in the affected areas, mostly smaller animals, but they're, they're part of, they're part of the landscape and the environment, too. They're part of what we value about living in Colorado, and in many cases, their prey for other species like hawks and other raptors and at will, the impact will be significant.
Libby 34:27
Yeah, I Well, I can imagine the areas of superior and Lewisville that were affected. I I used to live in that area and I would see coyotes there all the time. And we know that mountain lions move through those corridors and things like that. So our areas, do you know, you know, now that those animals are being pushed out, how is that wildlife human interface going to change? How can we prepare ourselves for kind of a changing landscape?
Leslie 35:01
A good question where we're already finding, you know, different points of contact as as animals are pushed out of their habitat increasingly into ours, I think we have to prepare ourselves for what is unfortunately referred to as human wildlife conflict. If we could somehow emphasize the coexistence, it would be better than just assuming that it's going to be conflict. But I think there will be lots of animals who will be in places where we haven't seen them before. Fortunately, this fire did not occur during breeding or Denning season, so we won't be seeing a lot of orphaned animals. But we'll be seeing a lot of animals who have no place to go. And as I said, they're already running out of space. So I think we need to take a more compassionate attitude toward coexistence and not just try to keep them out of what supposedly our our environment.
Libby 36:21
Yeah, I love that. You know, the way you phrase that coexistence versus conflict, just changing, that little bit of language we use can have such an impact on our species interaction. Are there other ways we can change the way we talk about not only the wildlife but our companion animals, in the midst of a tragedy like this, I think
Leslie 36:49
it's really important to recognize that what we consider society are uniquely human accomplishment actually involves animals in every aspect, whether we talk about economic, emotional, psychological, we rely on animals in countless ways, and so we have obligations to them, because of our interdependence, and if we can recognize that I think we can find ways to improve the outcomes for humans and for animals, both wild and domestic.
Libby 37:35
I, That's so true. It is a very human construct to say that this is our human world, and but really, they've been along with us the entire way. And so often, we depend on them for not only food, but our emotional support and companionship, they
Leslie 38:00
absolutely do that animals are woven into society in countless ways.
Emily 38:05
And everyone I know who was in the fire and had to flee. Luckily, everyone we knew, was home and got to bring their companion pets with them. But that was their first priority, like those animals are their family. And so I've loved that you're trying to move that conversation forward, that they are part of this picture and a catastrophe, and they should be included in the conversation.
Libby 38:31
Is there any anything else you think that we should be talking about when we talk about disaster recovery in our companion animals?
Leslie 38:41
The message I always try to get across is let's shift the focus from recovery to preparation. I want to emphasize the importance of sitting down and thinking about what hazards people you as an individual or as a family as a household face. Are you susceptible to wildfires? Or is it mostly blizzards? Is it mostly wind? Is it flooding, what what is likely to happen? And and just as you would figure out where you're going to go figure out what you're going to do for your animals. And there are lots of resources online available for how to put together a go bag for your animals and how to have the resources on hand to shelter in place for up to 72 hours. That includes you know, making sure that your food making sure that you have medications. And if you have to evacuate, make sure that you have identification for the animals that if your animals are microchipped and I hope they would be that the contact information is up to date. When I were didn't have the response after Hurricane Katrina, that was a huge problem animals that were microchipped. Even if you could contact people, they weren't at those phone numbers anymore. Make sure you have alternate contacts. Make sure you have medications or for your animals or you know how to get them. i In our house, we have the veterinary records copied and put in a plastic sleeve and they're near the cat carrier, so that if we have to leave all that information goes with the cats. Grab a disposable litter box, make sure that your animals have you know, identification medication, food, and make a plan for someplace to go. If you have to leave is there you know a friend or relative or a hotel. And make sure you have carriers for all your cat's leashes for all your dogs. And these days, everybody has pictures of their animals on their phone. But but make sure it's a good picture. So that let's say you're in a situation where you have to say I've lost my black and white tuxedo cat. Well, they look a lot alike. But if you have a picture that shows there's a little bit of a difference in that stocking on the right front leg or something like that, that can distinguish your cat from, you know, dozens of other tuxedo cats. That's important. So all of that information is available. Online, just we don't like to think about the worst that could happen. But as I said it, it shifts the burden from recovery to preparation.
Libby 41:55
That's so important. And if it comes down to evacuating I, you're gonna have to correct me on these exact details. But I read in your book that it's now legally, they can't deny you evacuation. If you have a pet with you, is that correct?
Leslie 42:16
Well, that's what they the pets Act that was passed into law a 2006 insured. However, it doesn't mean that any rescuer is required to save your pet. So you, communities are supposed to make plans that include companion and service animals, but individual owners still have responsibility for making those plants. The priority is is sheltering humans, and there are so many ways that humans can be put at risk by sheltering animals too. I'm a big advocate for CO sheltering arrangements. But that doesn't mean that my animal has to be housed next to somebody who's afraid or allergic or something like that.
Libby 43:08
Yeah, finding ways to meet everyone's needs is crucial in the wake of a disaster like this. Thank you so much for your time, Leslie.
Leslie 43:17
My pleasure.
Libby 43:22
Finally, let's speak with Natalie Riggs. She is the Director of cavies and canines animal rescue, and she's telling the story of the miraculous recovery of 11 Foster guinea pigs from a home that was affected by the fire.
So Natalie Riggs of cavies and canine Animal Rescue, welcome to pod to the rescue. And thank you so much for taking the time to be here.
Natalie 43:54
Yeah, thank you for inviting me.
Emily 43:56
So I was on that folder fire Lost and Found Pets page. Pretty much the day the night of the fire. I got on it. And I feel like I followed your story from the first post and I was completely, you know, emotionally and heart wholeheartedly invested. And so I was hoping you could just take us through like, the entire experience for our listeners.
Natalie 44:26
Yeah, I mean, it was a it was a total whirlwind and a roller coaster i i joined the page pretty late that evening as well. After I had found out that the homeowner had to evacuate in the drop of a hat and only able to take one of the pigs with her. And this homeowner actually she has foster for us and she foster fails. I think nine out of the 11 getting eight or nine out of the 11 She has foster failed so every time she has fostered she has a But, of course, I'm emotionally invested in all of these piggies as well. I know them personally. A lot of them have been medical cases or abuse and neglect cases and already been through the wringer. So of course, we're all very emotional. Our Vice President, Alyssa was out of town. And the homeowner was actually babysitting two of her hairless guinea pigs, who we were pretty sure if they survived the fire, we're not going to survive the freezing temperatures. So the first news we got was actually quite unfortunate, because the address one digit off, I had a wonderful volunteer firefighter, go over super late at night, pretty much just to verify whether the home was even standing, and unfortunately received the news that it was not. So had to break that news to everyone. And it was probably a full day before we got news that somehow there was a mistake, I actually had two separate parties verify the whole was no longer standing, no possibility of survivors. And somehow, by some miracle, we got the opposite news about a day later, after, of course, everyone is grieving that the the property was not even damaged. On the other side of the complex, all the houses were either destroyed or damaged. But I just decide what was perfectly fine. So at this point, we're like, well, we there's a chance to guinea pigs are live. So let's get them out. Well, easier said than done. With the National Guard and all the safety restrictions. Even the homeowner herself could not get to the residence. And then of course, we have the giant snowstorm. road conditions even more impossible. And then I think it was six degrees or something the next night in Boulder superior So and there's no utilities on in the house. And we're like, oh gosh, well, well insulated house, so maybe they'll survive one night, but certainly not to certainly not three. Not to mention, who knows how much food and water the animals have. Not sure how much you know about guinea pigs, but guinea pigs literally need to be eating 24/7 Having fiber moving through, or they can go into gi stasis, which is very hard to reverse. So the amount of things that could have gone wrong with these support animals is pretty overwhelming. And we're thinking there's there's just no way that they're going to make it out alive. And it was seemingly impossible to get folks even into the area to, to check. So by, by some miracle, I mean, I have to thank Steph Webber from the that Facebook page, who was an administrator there, connecting with the authorities, she stayed up pretty much all night with me, coordinating with Boulder County Animal Services, Boulder County Office of Emergency Management, the sheriff's office, and somehow was able to literally work a miracle and get a select few people, including a veterinarian, Dr. Kelsey Stokes, to enter the residence. And then of course, we have a spare key but the homeowner here in Fort Collins, where it were I am, and the gentleman that had her spare key. You know, it's late at night, he was going to bed. He's an older fellow and started to become a little concerned that this was not legitimate. So we had to talk to that gentleman, convince him that we are real people good intention to humans and get that key to enter the residence. And then I mean, I'm up. It's been days at this point. And we're just we're expecting devastating news, but at least hoping we can provide closure to these two individuals. And I just got the message. Gosh, I can't even remember.
I had I had a foster parent there who was local. Dr. Kelsey Stokes Was there some representatives from Soul dog rescue and sunshine Fire Protection District, and I just got the message that all 11 were alive and we're like, oh my gosh, I just can't believe it. So of course they just throw in carriers and get them here to Fort Collins so I can check them out. And we're still expecting I mean, three of these guinea pigs were paralysed in freezing temperatures, so I'm like, okay, or are they going to have health issues down the road? Any of them have their digestive system shutting down at this point, dehydration, and miraculously, every guinea pig is perfectly fine, happy and healthy, a little freaked out. But I I have a cute picture. One of them I think. I actually don't know his age, but if I were to guess I would say he's an older Piggy and I've I'm keeping them all for the homeowner right now in my own house and I just fell in love with him. It's like he was so thankful to be rescued. I picked him out of his carrier and he just exploded on me. They just just stretched out his front and back legs yawn gave me kisses. And he was like, Oh, it's over. I'm saying. So it was that. Yeah, a really happy ending for everyone.
Libby 50:11
Wow, Natalie, you can't see me right now. My jaw is literally on the floor. What an amazing story.
Natalie 50:18
Oh, yeah, so many of us were, I mean, we were just crying happy tears, we couldn't stop. And I mean, I, I had hundreds, literally hundreds of messages and people following the case, and just being able to copy and paste over and over and over. All 11 are alive, we'll post more soon. For all those people. I know, we've made a lot of a lot of days a lot better when, during a time when people are seeing so much bad news and probably experiencing tragedy themselves.
Libby 50:47
Absolutely. This is like a huge, bright spot in the animal rescue story following this tragedy.
Emily 50:55
And it's so heartening that all those government officials and veterinarians and sold dog rescue and sunshine cannon, like all these fire officials came together to save the guinea pigs. Like that's a story that is incredible.
Natalie 51:09
I know. Yeah. And it was midnight, like it was after midnight, when all of these authorities are on a conference call coordinating an exception and trying to get through to save these animals. I mean, it's it's New Year's day after midnight. It's just Yeah, super, super humbling
Emily 51:29
restores my faith. And she might like that.
Natalie 51:34
I know. And I mean, I mean, there's so many people to this day in the boulder area that don't know, either have confirmed that they've lost their pets or or don't know, their pet is missing. And you know, just just to be able to provide that hope that, you know, maybe they will be found and maybe they will be okay, because it happened to us 11 times over. So I hope that that gives them folks going through probably the worst time in their life.
Emily 52:01
And it actually helps because, you know, one thing that we were kind of, you know, just hurt by or like that kind of touched us was we kept on hearing on the news, like the official saying like, no lives were lost, or now they're saying like, perhaps two lives that are like investigating. And, and for us as animal lovers and part of that page in this community. Like this. Now, it's I think it's 72 animals, companion pets are still missing. And for us to hear, like no lives for loss, we're like, oh my God, but we're all like looking. You know, we're like, these lives are so important to us. And so to know that actually, to all those officials that worked on these guinea pigs, like those lives mattered so much they liked, they get up extra late in the middle of a major national crisis. You know, to be to be looking for your guinea pigs is really great. Um,
Natalie 52:56
so yeah, we're getting there. I mean, sometimes guinea pigs don't get they don't get the press or people you know, assume that they don't necessarily matter like a dog and a cat. But I mean, they're, they do their personalities are just as intense as my dogs and my cat, then I mean, for this for this homeowner. I don't believe she has any children. She she's not married. So this is this is her whole world. These These were her, her baby her whole life and she thought it was all gone. And she didn't lose any.
Emily 53:34
So were these piccies like 11 piggies in one cage or were they in pairs of two? How does that look?
Natalie 53:42
So she I actually haven't seen her her setup. But the authorities that went in and the volunteers I had all told me it was just shocking how loved and spoiled these piggies are, I mean, they're in 16 foot enclosures each it's It's lovely, I heard, but yeah, most of them are paired up. She has a couple of singles that are either looking for a friend or not getting along with other guinea pigs. And then she has one sweet trio, which is to neglected girls. She foster failed for us probably a year ago with one of her neutered males and they're all living together as a happy family.
Libby 54:20
Do you know how cold it got in the house overnight?
Natalie 54:23
I don't know how cold it got in the house. I mean, I know like it was I think six degrees outside at the coldest night and then around 930 The night before they were rescued. Soul dog rescue somehow pulled some strings and was able to get the gas turned on to that property. Just so you know if there were any survivors, they would have that much more of a chance to make it so morning until they could get into the residence and check on them.
Emily 54:52
God soul dog rescue seems to have just been amazing in this in this crisis.
Natalie 54:59
Yeah. they went they just went so far above and beyond when they reached out to me and, and again i They don't do guinea pigs, they're their their dogs. So just to have them contribute their expertise and be willing to help another species with, you know, no strings attached, no questions asked. They're just like, Let's get in. Let's get these piggies Yeah, super, super thankful for them they did such an amazing job.
Libby 55:24
Is there anything else that we didn't talk about that you want our listeners to know about? This incredible rescue from the Firestorm and the aftermath?
Natalie 55:34
Well, again, I just want to I want to thank Steph Webber from the Lost and Found Pets page. Again, she stayed up all night with me coordinating this with the authorities. My team members Alyssa Daniels, Jessica Hartman, Kristen Earle. Even our junior volunteer is the Dora who's directly in the boulder area, just even covering for me and doing meet and greets and such while I'm trying to coordinate these efforts, I can't thank them enough. Dr. Kelsey Stokes, Soul dog rescue and their team. Everybody has just been above and beyond amazing and making this happen. So I'm beyond thankful for all of those individuals.
Emily 56:13
Yeah. Well, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. This is such an amazing rescue story. Yeah.
Natalie 56:20
Yes. Yes. Thank you so much for having me and I, again, I really hope that this can at least provide some hope to those that are still missing there for babies, but hopefully they're they're found safe and regardless, I hope folks can get some closure and wait on the community support to recover from such an awesome master.
Libby 57:03
Thanks for tuning in. If you liked this episode, don't forget to rate and review and helps other folks like you find the show. To find out more about our programming and adoptable rescue dogs. You can visit summit dog rescue.org thanks to Mike pesci for the original music and to Alex Lee Ammons and for the love media for graphics production and editing. See you soon on pod to the rescue.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai