Well, things are heating up over here in central Washington. Summer is upon us and with it comes wildfire season. It seems like we can’t go more than a day or two without hearing about another wildfire.
In late June, the Slide Ranch Fire roared through a portion of the Yakama Indian Reservation near White Swan, burning over three thousand acres and destroying 17 homes. While this may pale in comparison to the destruction caused by the gray and Oregon fires in northeastern Washington last fall, this fire was in my backyard. It was my friends and neighbors who were affected. This was personal.
My wife and I got to experience firsthand the anxiety of hearing there was a level two (prepare to go) evacuation alert issued very close to us while we were hundreds of miles away in an area with spotty cell service. When we were finally able to contact our daughter, she was already at the house, and we decided the best course of action was for her to just pick up the dog and cats and take them to her house for the night.
The next day we returned home to a still very active fire. There was a level 3 (go now) evacuation order near us, and the fire was still completely out of control. We began to hear stories of the devastation. Homes burned down, property destroyed, and summer pastures burnt up. Amazingly, no human lives were lost.
Then the veterinarian in me took over and I started wondering about the animals. The fire was in a rural area on the Yakama Indian Reservation where everyone I know owns a varying combination of dogs, cats, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, and other farm animals. Evacuation of these animals can be complex especially in a rapidly expanding fire. Animals, like humans, can suffer serious health risks from wildfires and WSDA has produced a bulletin on caring for livestock (and pets) following a wildfire. I’m including it in this article as I have had many friends and neighbors ask me what they can do for their animals after the fire.
Other resources:
• Caring for livestock after a wildfire
• Wildlife smoke and animals
• https://app.watchduty.org/
• Wildfire Preparedness for Pets and Livestock