As wildfires blazed around Los Angeles, Janell Gruss had to act fast.
Being the manager of a stable housing 25 horses and other animals, she realized the situation would be far more complex.
While many people simply hopped into their vehicles to escape, Ms. Gruss was tasked with handling over two dozen panicked horses as embers danced in winds reaching 160 km/h.
“The last horse we managed to get out of the barn… it was quite intense,” Ms. Gruss recounted at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, which has taken in hundreds of animals this week.
“Both the horse and I were stumbling over items, branches, and whatever debris was around.”
Ms. Gruss expressed that rounding up the animals was so difficult that she feared she might not survive the ordeal.
“I thought I could end up being one of those fatalities,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
“You hear stories about individuals going back for the last horse and never returning.”
Over 150,000 individuals have been displaced due to the massive fires sweeping through the city, a disaster that has claimed at least 16 lives and irrevocably altered Los Angeles.
A group of rescuers attends to horses during the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, US, on January 8.
With many residents required to evacuate in the face of the advancing wildfires and needing to bring their animals along, resources are stretched thin.
“We’ve never encountered anything like this,” stated Jennie Nevin, director of communications at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.
“The first night was incredibly busy and chaotic. People were arriving from various locations.”
Numerous individuals congregated around the barns yesterday at the equestrian center, where donkeys, pigs, and ponies found refuge as well.
Tarah Paige, a professional stuntwoman, brought her three-year-old daughter to see their pony Truffles and her miniature cow Cuddles—who has also starred in several television shows.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” said Ms. Paige, for whom the equestrian center has provided a sanctuary amid this unimaginable disaster.
According to Ms. Nevin, there has been a tremendous response, with many offering their assistance in caring for the animals.
Individuals lead their horses after evacuating them from the Eaton fire at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California, on January 10.
“It truly takes a community,” she remarked. “It requires collective effort.”
Throughout the expanse of Los Angeles, activists, veterinarians, and volunteers are diligently working to rescue and care for animals displaced by the disaster, including some that are wounded.
The Pasadena Humane Society has taken in approximately 400 animals from Altadena, where the fires have already devastated more than 14,000 acres (5,600 hectares).
Among their patients is a five-day-old puppy discovered in the remnants of a building, suffering from burned ears.
Annie Harvilicz, founder of the Animal Wellness Center, mentioned that she has hardly slept all week.
As the fires raged through the affluent Pacific Palisades, Ms. Harvilicz shared on Facebook her willingness to take in animals.
Her post “exploded,” she said, leading to an influx of dogs, cats, and even a rabbit.
With flames still raging uncontrollably, the calls for help continue unabated.
However, she believes that even after the firefighters manage to bring the blaze under control, the slow-moving tragedy will persist.
“We’re going to find more pets, more pets with smoke inhalation and burns as we begin to uncover the aftermath once the fires subside,” she cautioned.
“This is merely the beginning.”
