Update, Butte County Ca Friday June 27, 2008 5:00pm PDT

An alert was issued by Cal-Fire this morning regarding possible wind increases and direction changes. The possibility of large scale evacuations exists. Additional Noah's Wish

 volunteers from Regions 1 and 5 are arriving and enroute to both relieve NW personnel that have been working non-stop for almost two weeks and augment the shelter staff.

 Update, Butte County Ca Thursday June 26, 2008 12:15pm pm PDT

 Fires continue to burn in the Feather River canyon. Total acreage is now 7,000 burned. Noah's Wish volunteers are continuing to assist the North Valley Animal Rescue Group in staffing the emergency

shelter located at Spring Valley school in Oroville. This is the same Butte county area NW deployed to only two weeks ago during the Humbolt fire. There are now over two hundred small animals being

cared for at this shelter, while horses and livestock are going to Chico. A rotation schedule is underway as the containment  date is uncertain at this point.

 Update, Butte County Ca Tuesday, June 24, 2008 5:30pm PDT

 Fire conditions have deteriorated with a second out of control fire in the immediate area. More locations are now being evacuated. El Dorado County Animal Control has redeployed under mutual aid.

Heavy smoke and 24 hour working conditions at the shelter necessitate that additional Noah's Wish volunteers respond. A Region one expanded call-out is now in progress.

Cal-Fire is reporting a total of 25 fires in the Countyt, with 8 contained. 4,000 acres have been burned at this time.

 Update, Butte County CA. Monday, June 23,2008 10:30am PDT

Noah's Wish has been requested to respond personnel to a wildlands fire near Lake Concow in Butte County. Heavy smoke from the "Rim" fire is creating heath problems for all in the fires downwind

path. Evacuations started Sunday and are expanding today. A Noah's Wish response  team consisting of Search and Rescue plus Shelter volunteers is now enroute. They are taking a horse trailer that will be used

 in moving large animals to safety. Additional Region 1 personnel may be required depending on wind conditions that have slowed fire surpression efforts.

 Sunday, June 22,2008 1:00pm PDT. REGION 1.....

Noah's Wish California Region 1 personnel have been requested to stand by for possible deployment by three separate agencies. Overnight, more than 400 wildland fires were sparked by dry-lightning.

State and local fire crews are extremely busy with the high number of incidents. NW Coordinators are alerted and will do a callout when and if requested.

Here is a synopsis of the Noah's Wish response to the Humbolt Fire – Butte County, California as prepared by Mari Donovan, Region 1 Volunteer.

The response in the Northern California city of Chico was triggered by a request from El Dorado County Animal Control (with whom we have an MOU ) to provide Mutual Aid to North Valley Animal Response Disaster Group. NVARDG had been providing shelter and services to animals displaced by the fire for a few days, and managing well, until the fire took a turn and the group became inundated with animal evacuees. The initial request to Noah’s Wish was for search and rescue assistance as well as horse trailers.

Butte County assigned their Search and Rescue Team facility to NVARG for use as the temporary animal shelter.  This location was ideal – fencing on the street side, large paved parking lot and an air conditioned office facility with kitchen services, bathrooms (including a shower!), and offices for Command.  Adjoining the office was the garage, concrete floor, plenty of electrical outlets and running water, perfect for sheltering the cats and the bunnies. An adjacent field with oak trees for some shade was designated as the dog area – lots of room to walk and set up cages and runs.

Our days were 100 degrees, zero humidity - just hot! hot! hot!  Our greatest challenge was providing heat relief for the animals, large and small, while keeping ourselves hydrated and healthy.

Assistant Coordinator Kim deWoody was the first Noah’s Wish team member to arrive in Chico, and she served as the Noah's Wish Site Supervisor. Rick Prock arrived shortly thereafter hauling a horse trailer and me, followed by Coordinator Scott Barber. 
 
Animal Control Officers converged from multiple neighboring counties to assist, and were allowed up to the fire lines for search and rescue. Kim deWoody worked in the field with SART - Search and Rescue Teams in full Nomex (those yellow fire-resistant suits worn by firefighters that are very hot and very heavy), helmet, goggles and gloves. Rick Prock also worked with SART, driving the Noah's Wish truck and trailer to move horses, goats and sheep.
 
Coordinator Scott Barber was invaluable as the only Registered Vet Tech on-site.  We had him for a short time at the Small Animal Shelter before he was whisked of to the Large Animal site at "the Farm" (Calif State College at Chico). Tim Martin worked tirelessly in the high heat, building dog runs from cyclone fence panels, as well as a perimeter fence. Kay Buie handled the Volunteer Registration and credentials checks with aplomb, Elise Mattison served as the always needed flexible volunteer, working in cats or dogs, wherever we needed help, and when not in the field, Kim deWoody provided her expertise with the rabbits.  My days were spent in the dog area.

A number of 2008 trainees joined us. Don Abercrombie and Susan Ellison from Redding teamed up to work dogs, Franz Hoffman and Linda Swanson were welcomed in the cat area, Tracy Stevens-Martin was a premier dog-walker, and Diana Vasquez pulled double duty as our Pet First Aid consultant, as well as Gatekeeper to the facility.
 
The Intake Log had 246 registrations for bunnies, cats, dogs and two guinea hens. The actual small animal count will be higher, as NVARDG uses one intake number per family (same species). The Large Animal site at California State University Chico, "the Farm", logged in 141, including horses, llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep and a couple of pigs.
 
As of 2 p.m. this afternoon (Sunday), there were approximately 8 cats and 15 dogs, including 13 same family adult Great Danes, seven of whom are pups.  Any animals that could not be picked up by 5 p.m. Sunday will be housed at the local humane society.  The remaining large animals, numbering about 40, will continue to be sheltered at CSU Chico and tended by vet students.

Noah’s Wish shone at this event.  We showed that the team-in-blue has diverse skill sets, that we have team members able to perform search and rescue, “build” a secured area, run a shelter, provide high level care for animals, manage documentation, and perform logistical tasks.  

This was the first time I have worked in a collaborative animal rescue and shelter effort, side-by-side with the navy blue shirts of NVARDG and the red shirts of EARS.  It was an awesome experience, melding our policies and procedures, skills and abilities.  We collectively served the animals and the community of Butte County, CA with the best of care.

I am so very proud to be a part of Noah’s Wish.

Submitted by Mari Donovan, Volunteer Region 1