Owners Of Evacuated Animals Thankful For Fairgrounds During Wildfire
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Firefighters scrambled to protect homes when a wildfire broke out Monday evening in Boulder County near Hygiene. Flames destroyed four buildings and residents rushed in to save their animals.
Animal Control says about 85 horses were evacuated from the Rabbit Mountain Fire. Many went to private ranches, but several were brought to the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
The animals have been allowed to go back home -- but with fire danger still high -- the barns at the fairgrounds are staying ready for potential evacuations.
Flames spread quickly Monday night, rapidly approaching the Rabbit Mountain Equestrian Center in Longmont.
"As it got dark you could really see the flare ups," said Julie Barringer-Richers, co-manager of the Rabbit Mountain Equestrian Center. "It was a bit of a predicament to know what to do."
Fire crews closed roads in the area, making it difficult to reach livestock in need of evacuating. But eventually 34 horses from the boarding and training center were brought to the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
"We knew the fairgrounds was ready for us," Barringer-Richers said.
"We can be ready in 10 minutes," said Joe Lasollette, manager of the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
With enough room to house 400 animals, the evacuated horses spent the night in stalls, eager to get back home.
"One of our boarders even stayed here overnight with their dog to be near the horses, so we're thankful for that," Barringer-Richers said.
Despite high winds and record temperatures, firefighters gave the all-clear for the horses to head back to the ranch, even though there were a few hot spots nearby.
"Pretty much the land between us and that area is already burned, so the winds would have to do some amazing things to move towards us," Barringer-Richers said.
The fairgrounds will remain ready in case of another evacuation, but the hope is the weather takes a drastic turn to prevent any more fires.
"It's the moisture. We really need to get moisture back on the ground," Lasollette said.
Thankfully no animals were hurt during the evacuations. There was concern one horse didn't make it out of the fast-moving flames, but CBS4 has confirmed that animal is doing just fine and managed to avoid the fire.
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