Bear cub burned in Methow Valley wildfire to get treatment

METHOW, Wash. – Thursday evening – two weeks after the Carlton Complex fires roared around his home near Methow – Steve Love befriended a young bear cub who had suffered severe burns and who wandered up his driveway.

When she took shelter under his horse trailer, he put out a bowl of water and gently tossed her apricots from his tree.

And when she started whimpering that night, he came as close as he dared and tried to comfort her. “I said, ‘You’re OK little bear. Everything will be all right,’ ” he recalled.

The next day, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer captured her and brought her to Rich Beausoleil, the agency’s bear and cougar specialist. And by Monday morning – with the donated help of many more people – the 37-pound cub since named Cinder was on her way by private plane to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Lake Tahoe.

Beausoleil said her paws were so badly burned, she was walking on her elbows when Wildlife officer Jason Day captured her Friday. Beausoleil said he thinks Cinder got caught in a hot spot and was forced to walk on burning hot embers.

The pads on all four paws have third-degree burns and may never fully recover, said East Wenatchee veterinarian Randy Hein, who checked her out Sunday night to ensure she could make the trip to California.

Hein said Cinder’s claws were also burned and may come off. She suffered second-degree burns on her face and chest, and the tips of her ears.

“It’s going to be months and months of rehabilitation for this little bear,” Hein said. “But she was eating well. She came in with a belly full of grub, which is good.”

Beausoleil said Hein made the trip to his office Sunday to examine Cinder after Seattle pilot Bill Inman heard about the cub through Pilots for Paws and offered to fly to Wenatchee and take her directly to Lake Tahoe, where she will be rehabilitated at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Tom Millham, Wildlife Care’s director, said he’s hopeful Cinder will not only survive, but that she eventually can be released back into the wild near her home in Okanogan County. “We have some concerns right now, but overall, it looks good,” he said.