A pair of police officers managed to save 60 lives from the approaching Nelson wildfire in northern California—and not a hair on the heads or bodies of the furry rescuees was singed.
Vacaville, California, Police Officer Carly Stone was working down the road from the Vacaville Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals shelter on Aug. 11 when she realized that the approaching Nelson Fire was about to reach the shelter.
We wanted to give a quick update and thank everyone for their support. We understand that many people are under the…
Posted by SPCA of Solano County on Saturday, August 11, 2018
Stone told Fox News she thought, “This is gonna be heartbreaking if we have to leave these animals here. There’s got to be something we can do. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but there’s got to be something.”
Stone and another Vacaville officer raced into action. The pair ran into the shelter and retrieved the animals, one by one, while shelter staff and volunteers tried to get all the animals into cages or carriers.
In just 10 frantic minutes, all the animals were removed from the shelter and transported to safety.
The rescue efforts were captured on the officers’ body cameras.
All the Animals Have New Homes
According to the Solana SPCA Facebook page, all the animals removed from the shelter were re-housed successfully.
“All animals are safe in foster homes at this time. Unfortunately we do not have power or water at this time but all 60 of our animals are safe in foster homes for the time being,” the SPCA staff posted. We are hoping to get in there tomorrow to clean up the ash and debris inside our kennel building and around the property. We thank you all so much for your donations, love, support, and concerns. The Vacaville community has been so gracious to open their homes and hearts for us.”
SPCA staff also posted that they had all the food they needed, but would welcome donations of blankets and other supplies.
“Thank you for all the food that was donated,” the SPCA website read. “We now have plenty of food for the animals. What we are in need of now is bedding for the animals, towels, blankets, etc. and cleaning supplies. Paper towels, large trash bags, bleach etc.”
“If you wish to donate financial support we lost much of our refrigerated medications, vaccines, etc. and they will need to be replaced. Donations can be mailed to SPCA of Solano County PO Box 356 Vacaville, CA 95696, brought to the SPCA at 2200 Peabody Rd in Vacaville, or online at our website www.solanospca.com”
The Neslon Fire was eventually contained completely on August 12. The fire burned one home and scorched 2,162 acres after it started near Interstate Highway 80 in Fairfield on August 10, according to Cal Fire.