Thompson/Nicola Valley Fires - British Columbia, Canada

Update # 7

Saturday - August 16, 2003 - 2:00 p.m. West Coast Time

The first thing I would like to report is that a total of 1,197 animals were helped between the BCSPCA shelter in Kamloops and the KXA race track. This is a lot of animals and the combined efforts of the BCSPCA, Noah's Wish, local volunteers, and the community of Kamloops ensured they got the best possible care.

The first five days we were in Kamloops it was difficult to gain access to most of the areas that had been evacuated. The fire was still burning and the direction it was headed frequently changed as the winds picked up late every afternoon, making it an extremely dangerous situation. For this reason the entire rescue team was held back several times by the officials. It was frustrating for everyone, especially for those people whose animals had not been evacuated. Wondering whether they were still alive or not was incredibly hard.

Nine days after the fire necessitated the evacuation of Barriere, animals were still being found alive though. Myself and Noah's Wish coordinators David Lesser and Vicky McDonald worked closely with the BCSPCA Special Provincial Constables to respond to the requests for rescues being submitted daily by individuals and families who had been evacuated. The dog pictured below is one of the dogs rescued nine days after the fire started.

Coordinator David Lesser was especially pleased when the team he was working with found two dogs alive after being on their own for days. Both were guard dogs that had been left behind in a commercial area of Barriere where reports indicated the fire had destroyed many of the structures. The pit bull pictured below was one of the survivors. She and her buddy were fortunate to have survived the fire, but she had obviously not been well cared for, for quite some time. After being taken to the BCSPCA she was moved to a veterinary clinic to receive medical care.

We learned of some animal deaths as more people were allowed to return to their homes for the first time. At one location where we were setting humane traps for two missing cats we found 24 chickens who had died. The discovery was difficult to see as the picture below shows. The Ministry of Agriculture had received reports of herds of cattle and flocks of sheep that perished. Exact numbers will not be known for awhile though. I took a call on Monday, August 11, from a woman who found a calf who had been badly burned. BCSPCA veterinarian James Lawson was sent to the location. All four of the calves legs were burned to the point he no longer had any hooves. The decision was made to euthanize him which was the most humane choice.

There were the tragedies but there were also the stories that helped to balance them out. One of the many rescues that was done was a mother pot belly pig and her nine newborns. They were born right at the time everyone was being evacuated and the entire family is doing fine.

At the KXA race track there was a goat born on Monday, August 11, an event that brought a great deal of excitement among the volunteers. This just proved that life does go on.

One of the things that Noah's Wish does during the recovery phase of a disaster is to make contact with those individuals who have lost their homes. When we were in the community of Lewis Creek, an area hard hit by the fire, I met Cecil and Barbara Hay, who lost their home of 11 years. With them was their poodle Charlie.

After introducing me to Charlie, Barbara told me that this entire ordeal has been real hard on her canine companion too. When the Hays evacuated they took Charlie with them to the hotel in Kamloops that would become their temporary home. On their first trip back to Lewis Creek to survey the damage, Barbara calmly described the experience. "When we drove down our street and saw that our home was really gone, we were numb. We had been told the day before that we had lost everything, but the reality did not even begin to sink in until we saw it for ourselves. "

Barbara stopped talking to me at that point while she bent down and gave Charlie some water she'd poured into her cupped hand. Standing back up she continued talking in the same calm voice. "We stopped the car in front of our property to get a closer look at the damage. When I finally opened the car door Charlie jumped out. His normal routine when we pull into the driveway is that I let him out of the car and he goes to the gate and pushes it open. Then he runs up the steps and waits for me at the side door."

Barbara then told me that Charlie got as far as where the gate had once stood and stopped. He then turned around and looked at Barbara. "The look on his face was one of complete bewilderment," Barbara explained. "All I could do was go to him, pick him up, and cry."

When I asked Barbara if there was anything that I could do to help, she said that Charlie was overdue for his monthly trip to the groomers. Arrangements were made for Charlie to get a bath and trim the following day.

Another contact we made while in Lewis Creek led us to an injured cat. Robert and Collette lived in the mobile home park where 12 homes were destroyed by the fire. Amazingly enough, there home was the only one spared. Their neighbor was not as fortunate though. When talking with Robert he told us that their neighbor had not taken her cat when she evacuated and that he had spotted the cat the night before. "She is very badly burned and very weak," Robert explained. "I put out some tuna and a bowl of water for her and she drank for nearly fifteen minutes. I felt so bad for her. She has been out here for nine days with nothing to eat and drink."

When we learned of the cat we immediately spread out and began looking for her. Our concern was that she had gone off somewhere to die. For over two hours we looked in every possible hiding spot for the injured cat but there was no sign of her. Before we left we set three traps in hopes she would return later in search of more food and water. We gave Robert my cell phone number and he promised to check the traps throughout the night and call me if he spotted her again. My phone was silent.

I learned the next morning that a burned cat had been found by a firefighter and brought to the BCSPCA the day before. Because of the severity of her injuries she was then transferred to the Riverside Small Animal Hospital in Kamloops. There was not time to follow up on this cat as I had other traps set in Lewis Creek that I needed to check. Therefore, I asked a volunteer to go to the vet and take some Polaroid pictures of the cat and get them to me in Lewis Creek. When I later showed the pictures of the burned cat to Robert and Collette they confirmed it was the same cat we'd been searching for the day before. It was a tremendous relief to know she was finally safe.

I visited the cat at the veterinary hospital on Tuesday, August 12. The staff told me that all four of her feet were badly burned and infected. They had her on antibiotics to combat the infection. She was also badly dehydrated so they had her hooked up to an I.V. Her whiskers were singed and the fur on her chest was gone. In the two days they had been caring for her they had seen improvements though. This did not surprise me as this was definitely a cat with an incredibly strong will to live.

Noah's Wish agreed to pay for Beasley's veterinary care when we learned that her owner lost everything and she had no insurance. Given the severity of Beasley's burns and the length of time she will need to be hospitalized, the cost could grow to several thousand dollars. If you would like to contribute to Beasley's care you can make a donation to Noah's Wish.

The Noah's Wish team assigned to 100 Mile House returned the last five miniature horses in their care to their owner on Tuesday, August 12. Once this was done, the temporary shelter at 100 Mile Ranch was closed. A total of 152 animals were cared for at this location.

When I left Kamloops there were four Noah's Wish volunteers still on site. Two remained through Friday and their replacements will be taking over starting tomorrow and staying until they are no longer needed. The fires in the Thompson/Nicola Valley are still a concern at this time. New evacuations took place last night, some in areas where people had previously evacuated. Noah's Wish will continue to remain in contact with the BCSPCA and we are ready to fully mobilize again if more extensive evacuations are ordered.

A very special thanks to all the Noah's Wish volunteers mobilized to the fires. This group includes:

Donna Booth

Kimberly Collings

Charlie Crosby - Coordinator (Region 1)

Jane Curtin

Laura Dean

Rose Gingras

Barb Hartman - Coordinator (Region 8)

Cheryl Hubbard

Judith Kato

Janet Laurin

Pam Legault

David Lesser - Coordinator (Region 4)

Vicky McDonald - Coordinator (Canada)

Diana Miller

Melissa Monroe

Gail Moerkerken

Sheryl Riley

Cheryl Rogers

Charlene Ruttle

Deborah Silk - Coordinator (Canada)

Marsha Smart

Carola Stader

Shawne Street

Donna Toews

Donna Wackerbauer

Bev Westerman - Coordinator (Region 8)

The skill and knowledge of this group was amazing to watch. Everyone of them put in some long hours, and what they ended up accomplishing, you would have thought a team three times their size had been doing the work. The animals could not have been in better hands!

Report Submitted By: Terri Crisp - Director, Noah's Wish