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msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] Killer weather

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>
  • To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] Killer weather
  • Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:34:27 -0600

Karen Nesbitt wrote:
>Una, are you ok?  BTW, how many head are you having to move?  That is
>if you move and is any gonna get left behind?  Please keep us updated.

Doing fine. Evacuation orders are unlikely. Cerro Grande wildfire,
and 10 years of fuels reduction on county and national forest lands
and of programs to encourage residents to reduce fuels and make more
defensible space around houses, has made this community far less at
risk than it was before Cerro Grande. I have greatly reduced fuels
around my own home.

I am immediately responsible for 2 horses and 2 goats. They are in
a county stables area with over 100 horses and some other livestock,
and many of the animals are not used to trailering. Evacuation 10
years ago was not pre-planned and many animals had to be left behind.
Fire did not over run the stables area but with the people evacuated
there was no one to provide feed and water. Livestock left behind
in the stables (paddocks with run-in sheds) were evacuated days later
by animal welfare groups. Some groups violated the evacuation order.
Many cats and dogs were not evacuated and, being harder to catch up,
perished.

Apart from one small neighborhood where properties are large, county
ordinance prohibits keeping horses and other large animals except in
the stables area. All of Los Alamos County is perched on a dissected
plateau: long, mostly very narrow flat mesas alternating with deep
narrow canyons. Almost all development is on the mesa tops. There
are few roads between mesas and only 2 paved roads and 1 usable dirt
road out of the county.

Because of this geography, large scale evacuation is very difficult
here so if the fire danger increases much beyond its current level I
would be wise to proactively evacuate animals down into the valley.
I have several destinations in mind. As the bird flies the stables
area is about 1/4 mile from my house but it is over on another mesa
across one of the deepest canyons. By car it is about 5 miles away.
The drive there takes a minimum 15 minutes each way, and during work
day rush hour traffic jams are the norm. In an urgent or emergency
evacuation situation (eg sudden change overnight), the best I can do
is leave the livestock to shelter in place. I might not be able to
go there before I evacuate myself. Horses and goats in good health
can survive for many days without food, if they have enough water.
I am making sure they have enough water.

Una




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