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Jay Calderon, a photographer for The Desert Sun, explains this photo: "I was covering the fires last Wednesday for The Desert Sun newspaper and we had finally managed to get up to some homes that were burning near Lake Arrowhead. The whole community was ablaze and firefighters were concentrating their efforts on keeping the area's trees from creating what is known as a crown fire; a fire that reaches the tops of trees and burns swiftly and unpredictibly. After photographing some homes that burned uncontrollably, I ran into a corral and could see there were two horses inside. They were visibly nervous and walking around confused as there were fires burning within feet of their corral. I asked a firefighter working nearby if the horses were going to be ok. He assured me that the firefighters wouldn't let anything happen to them, but they were too busy to move them. I left for the day shortly thereafter and filed my photos for the next day's newspaper. I went up to Lake Arrowhead the next day to shoot the aftermath and devastation to the area and went by to see if the horses were fine, and luckily they were. Despite their surroundings being torched the horses were just as the firemen promised."
Larry
Catt, DVM, senior partner
of Large Animal Veterinary Associates in El Cajon, Calif.,
said, "These
were the flames coming from Alpine over into the Dehesa
Valley. I have some horses up in that area and (their
owners) don't have anyone there in the evening, so the
police let me through to check on those horses Sunday
night around 10 pm (Oct. 26)." Catt said the devastation
was widespread and while he was checking on the horses,
he heard several propane tanks explode after the fire
reached them.
Catt treats Yankee, who is at least 30 years old and sustained burns and cuts after part of his owner's burning house fell on his stall in Wildcat Canyon Oct. 26, before he could be evacuated. "He was really lucky to survive," said Catt. "When I saw him, the prognosis was guarded because he had so much facial swelling (from burns and smoke inhalation)." More photos of Yankee follow. Catt treated Yankee and other injured horses at one of the evacuation centers--Lakeside Rodeo Grounds in Lakeside, Calif. Yankee has since been referred to Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., after he showed signs of colic. He's recovering there under 24-hour care, and his faithful owner is staying outside the hospital in her Surburban, just as she had the rodeo grounds last week.
A gray Arabian mare nicknamed Marshmallow from a nearby Indian reservation was also singed by the fire, so much that you can see where her halter protected small areas of her face during the exposure to extreme heat. She also received burns over her back and hindquarters.
Horses were tied and kept in corrals (as seen in the earlier images of Yankee and other animals) at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds evacuation site.
Volunteers
distribute hay at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds evacuation
site. The site was emptied on Nov. 1, and all unclaimed
animals were moved to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
(Above)
Firetrucks caravan toward their next destination. (Below)
An area alongside the road that was ravaged by fires.
TOP PHOTO COURTESY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN; OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY DR. LARRY CATT