There are no words to describe the extreme devestation and loss the LNU fire left behind. It came over the Vaca Mountain ridge with a fury and was all you could see for miles. With no power and no warning our neighbors and ourselves evacuated at 3 in the morning grabbing only what was at hand and leaving everything else behind. We were very blessed that we were able to safely evacuate Patriot, LuLu, Calvin, Hobbes, Molly and Mouse. Our gratitude and thanks goes to everyone who helped us that night. The brave folks that came in with horse trailers and brought us to safety will never be forgotten, the folks that stayed behind when they could have left to make sure that all were loaded and on their way to safety. We will never be able to express our gratitude. Our hearts will always be with those who suffered so much loss that horrible night.
The day before the fire was a strange time. Temperatures had been in the high triple digits for a week, and the sky was that horrible grey/orange color that we have unfortunately all become familiar with. Blue Horse Rescue was very lucky to be evacuated to a large ranch in Dixon where our horses and donkeys had space, clean water, were all together and in a very safe environment. The doors were opened to us for two weeks until we were able to bring everyone safely home again.
We were able to return at daylight and fully expecting to find total destruction it was as if the fire had circled around the property and left it unscathed. Only twenty feet away was total loss of property. Once again we had been blessed.
The next few weeks would be very smokey but the following days were really bad. LuLu has lung damage from the Tubbs fire and she had a really hard time with all this smoke. Lots of luck, a strong mare, constant breathing treatments and many meds got her through it.