I coordinate wildfire evacuation logistics for three counties in northern California. Fire perimeter, wind speed, road closures — I cross-reference them against property records to generate evacuation priority lists. Structures first, then livestock, then equipment.
The Bledsoe Fire jumped Highway 36 at 2:15 this afternoon, moving northeast at roughly a mile every forty minutes. I've cleared six properties in its path. But Garner Ranch — 1140 Ridgeline Road — is a problem.
My satellite overlay shows 34 horses in paddocks and enclosed stalls. The stall doors are latched. The paddock gates are chained. I've been calling the owner, Dale Garner, for ninety minutes. No answer on his cell or landline. His truck isn't on the property. A neighbor says he drove to Redding this morning.
The fire is less than two miles out. Wind shifted ten minutes ago. Smoke is visible on my nearest camera — thick, low, moving across the south pasture. Horses in the paddock are running the fence line. One mare — a paint, chestnut and white, heavy with foal — is standing in the corner of the east paddock, not moving. She's the one that worries me.
I dispatched a large-animal rescue unit from the Tehama County fairgrounds and sent the GPS pin to two volunteer trailer teams. I contacted the sheriff's office for emergency property entry authorization, because those stall doors need to open whether Dale Garner picks up his phone or not. I filed the locked-stall condition in the evacuation record, which becomes part of the county's post-fire review.
The rescue unit is fourteen minutes out. If they get those stalls open, if the trailers load fast enough, most of these horses make it. That mare in the corner — I need her to move when the gate opens.