The wildfires that swept through Southern California in October 2003, causing an estimated $3 billion in insured damages and killing at least 22 people, were the worst in the state since the infamous "great fire" of 1906 that ravaged San Francisco.

An anomaly you say? Perhaps, except that Arizona suffered equally devastating fires in 2002. And the U.S. Forest Service reported that the "2000 fire season was one of the worst in 50 years. The scale and intensity of the 2000 fire season capped a decade that was characterized by a dramatic rise in the number of large wildland fires...."

Now, more than ever, people and pets need to be prepared for wildfires, particularly if they live in heavily wooded urban areas. With this in mind, The HSUS National Disaster Animal Response Teams (DART) decided to share some stories from the front lines of Southern California, where they worked for days with local officials rescuing and sheltering animals. The teams rescued more than 200 animals in all, but the number could have been even higher had residents taken more precautions.

The HSUS DART team members faced each one of the scenes below. Their solutions to the problems they encountered are designed to do a couple of things: save more animals, of course, but also ensure they never face these scenes again.

Caged In

The scene:
Most of our animal rescues in San Bernardino County were for cats, but we had one call for a bird. That was all the rescue request said: "bird." When we got to the house, we found a yellow nape Amazon parrot in a huge circular cage sitting right inside the sliding glass doors. It was cold in the house, and this expensive parrot had long since finished the food left by his owners.

The bird didn't want to come out of his five-foot-tall cage, and a large parrot who doesn't want to cooperate isn't exactly easy to deal with. After several attempts to coax the bird out, we realized that once we got him to the shelter in a carrier, the facility probably wouldn't have a cage large enough to house him long term. So we found a board, removed the top of the cage and attached the board to the bottom. The lower part of the cage was then dismantled and taken to the animal control truck. But the cage was still too tall; it had to be put on its side, and the Amazon parrot rode safely down the mountain to the shelter. Once at the shelter the entire setup was put back together again, and the bird seemed to adjust to his new environment, happy to have his fresh food and human attention.

The solution:
It was obvious that the bird's family took other pets when they evacuated. The size of the cage likely made it impossible for the family to take the bird also, so animal was left behind. All bird owners should have a disaster plan for this special companion—a plan that involves a travel cage that can be placed in a car during evacuations. The avian friend is then safe and sound along with the rest of the family.
—Laura Bevan, Director, HSUS Southeast Regional Office

Scaredy Cats

The scene:
Many of the homes we entered were intact, but the residents were ordered to stay away for more than a week. With limited food and water in these unheated homes, time and cold weather became factors in the health of the pets. When owners asked us to enter their homes to retrieve cats, some felines were very hard to find. They hid or bolted to inaccessible areas like heating ducts. For these cats, we could only replenish their food, water and litter, and move on to the next address.

The solution:
Your cat may become terrified by an approaching fire, and you may not be able to catch her when the evacuation order comes. If so, try to limit the areas where the animal can hide. If you know the cat is in a bedroom but you can't catch her, leave the door open but limit other areas. If you close the bedroom and leave food, water and litter inside, this will provide basic needs but will limit your pet's avenues of escape if the home begins to burn. If you make this choice, leave a sign on the bedroom door that says "CAT."

But a better approach is to provide the cat with some escape paths. Consider leaving open bathrooms and kitchens, which have sources of food and water. Also consider hallways and rooms that have few hiding places. By contrast, close the doors to basements, storage rooms, closets and other cluttered areas if you are certain the cat is not in there. Close, but do not lock, windows. Retrieval teams will find your cat easily and be able to advance quickly to more addresses and more animal rescues.

Some of the cat owners evacuated from the San Bernardino fires took these precautions, and we were able to rescue their animals in a fraction of the time it took for other homes. Leaving a "PETS" sign outside the front door with the type and number of animals will be very valuable to rescue teams and firefighters.
—Randy Archer, Boulder Emergency Squad and HSUS National DART Member

Hitch a Ride

The scene:
I encountered an older female German Shepherd who had been left confined to the back deck for nearly a week. The weather turned bad: rain, snow, and dropping night-time temperatures, all of which made confinement chilling and uncomfortable. Luckily, two utility men were stopping by daily to provide food for her, but they were concerned because the coyotes were moving in at night and causing her great distress. My team partner and I were able to gain her confidence and remove her. We hope she eventually was reunited with her family.

The solution:
It's difficult to imagine what the circumstances were for the people who had to evacuate their homes in this area. But if the German Shepherd's owners were not able to go back into their neighborhood to retrieve the dog, they should have made arrangements with neighbors to take the dog at the time of evacuation.
—Diane Webber, Director, HSUS Midwest Regional Office

Cold-Blooded

The scene:
Almost a week into our efforts in San Bernardino County, I was riding with responders from Oregon, Montana, California and Florida. The weather had taken a dramatic turn, and our mission had changed as well. We shifted from rescuing animals from fire to rescuing them from cold temperatures. It was snowing in the Lake Arrowhead area, and residents would not be able to return for many more days.

We entered a home looking for one dog and one cat. It was quickly obvious that the dog had been removed from the property, so we began searching for the cat. Since the electricity had been shut off, we worked with flashlights scouring each room and then closing the door when we were sure the cat wasn't there. Suddenly, one team member gave a yell. We came running, but discovered he had not found the cat after all. He had an aquarium with a bearded dragon lizard in it. Because of the cold, the lizard appeared to be almost dead.

While other team members searched for the cat, I sat in the front seat of the animal control truck with the heat on full-blast, warming up the cold reptile. By the time the cat was found and we made our way to the shelter, the lizard was moving around more and looking a lot better. He was checked out by a reptile expert, who thought he would survive once he received food and some hydration.

The solution:
Never leave a companion animal behind, but if you do, make sure to report the animal to your local animal control or animal rescue teams working in the area. If we had found the cat first, we would have stopped our search and never known that the lizard was freezing to death in another room.
—Laura Bevan, Director, HSUS Southeast Regional Office

Have a Plan

The scene:
Our team came upon a horrible scene in San Diego County that is still hard to describe, let alone fathom. The fire had spread very rapidly through Valley Center, destroying a good number of homes. We found one such burned-out home with a corral behind it and several flight pens. A llama had been burned to death, and inside the pens, we found the charred remains of numerous exotic birds.

The solution:
We don't know the circumstances of why the owner wouldn't or couldn't remove these animals. Suffice to say that people with collections of exotics must also have an evacuation plan that includes such creatures. They should also have the means to remove the animals from harm's way at the first sign of danger.
—Eric Sakach, Director, HSUS West Coast Regional Office

A Key Problem

The scene:
As I held the hammer in my hand and prepared to strike the window, I remember thinking, "I wish these people had left a key hidden so they don't have to come back to broken glass." In addition to causing extra property damage—owners already have to deal with spoiled food, frozen pipes and other headaches upon return—breaking into houses causes the animals inside to run and hide, making it more difficult to find them and move on to the next rescue.

The solution:
Hide a key so that when you call and ask animal control to rescue your pet, we can have easy access and your pet will be more likely to come greet us at the door.
—Randy Covey, HSUS National DART Member

Call Someone Who Cares

The scene:
When I first saw the dog, I immediately thought that someone who lives in the area probably found the poor pooch wandering, recognized him, brought him to their yard, tied him to a post and left, thinking the owners would return soon because the fire had already passed through the area. We had seen teenagers on four wheelers checking out the neighborhoods. There were also other residents walking and driving in the areas restricted to the general public. Any one of these people may have been a good Samaritan and returned the dog.

The solution:
People should never harbor free-roaming animals and should not return them to vacant properties during a disaster. The most important thing they can do is alert animal control to pick up and transport the animals to established shelter sites where the animals can be safely housed, identified, inventoried and, hopefully, quickly reunited with their family. The above scenario also supports the argument that law enforcement officials need to allow animal rescue teams into restricted areas.
—John Dommers, Regional Project Coordinator, HSUS West Coast Regional Office