New Yakima County team helps rescue animals during wildfires and other emergencies

Picture this. There’s a fire coming up the canyon toward your home. Yakima County Emergency Management issues an evacuation order and you have to collect clothes, important documents and keepsakes and leave your home.

In one of the many rural parts of Yakima County, that evacuation may not just include people and their valuables, but a few, a dozen or even hundreds of animals. Horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other livestock are an important part of an evacuation and can be hard to move.

“(It’s) stressful, when your livelihood is on the line,” said Jody Taylor, who has had to evacuate hundreds of head of cattle multiple times in the last few years due to fires.

His experiences prompted him to help people who might be going through the same thing.

He’s a member of Yakima County Emergency Management’s new Animal Rescue Team, a group of volunteers that is on call to help evacuate animals during emergencies and take them to the Yakima County Fairgrounds — a designated, reliable location to house evacuated livestock.

Lending a hand during wildfires and floods is not new, said Brenda Holbrook. Her family lost their home in 1996, she said, and their animals had nowhere to go. They put out a call for help and people came.

Since then her family has come to others’ aid.

“It’s much easier to help others,” she said.

Animal evacuations and livestock rescue have been improvised for much of that time, Brenda Holbrook said. Volunteers would bring in their trailers, help load up animals and transport them to other properties or farms that had room for them.

Someone would always be on the phones, trying to coordinate where animals should go, she said.

In the last year, Yakima County Emergency Management created a formal Animal Rescue Team to help.

The organization creates better coordination and communication with incident command, the officials in charge of emergency response, said Tony Miller, director of Yakima County Emergency Management.

Miller said different people have different niches and specializations — certain animals they’re more comfortable or familiar with. They know the capacity and size of volunteers’ trailers and can distribute them accordingly.

During an emergency, Miller sends out evacuation orders to the community. He’ll put volunteers on alert and they have go-bags with lights and magnetic signs for vehicles. Animal trailers are hooked up with vehicles and supplied with water.

Miller dispatches volunteers when and where they are needed. Volunteers coordinate with local emergency responders, minimizing chaos and keeping evacuations organized.

Chase Taylor is a member of the rescue team and a firefighter. He has fought wildfires as people were trying to move animals to safety.

He said that without this type of organization, the lack of communication can make things difficult. Trucks and trailers go in and out, sharing roads with emergency personnel who are also moving around the area.

Having one, central team working under an incident command is important to keep everyone on the same page, Chase Taylor said.

‘Be prepared’

Even with improved communication and coordination, the work can still be stressful and hard. Volunteers will usually make 10 to 15 trips between the fairgrounds and an evacuation zone each day.

Team members recall evacuating animals in a hurry, cramming them into trailers or even cutting them loose on their own if there wasn’t enough time or they weren’t cooperating. Animals will often be scared or panicked as well, Chase Taylor said.

Volunteers help people bring in animals and get them to safety. Cattle, for example, may need to be herded, Jody Taylor said. It’s something he’s helped with during evacuations.

If you live in a rural area where there is fire risk, it’s good to have your own go-bag with important papers and items, as well as a plan for evacuating animals, Miller said.

Miller suggested that anyone who owns animals or might need animal evacuation call when evacuation orders reach Level 2. That lets the rescue team determine where they need to go. He said emergency management staff are also working to identify who needs animal evacuation services across the county.

“Be prepared. If you live out in a rural area where there are fires and floods, be prepared,” Miller said.

Jody Taylor added that he’s seen people unprepared. They may not have made space for trailers, cleared roads or gotten their animals ready to go. It’s ideal if animals are tied and pinned and somewhere where a trailer can easily access and load them.

He added that if you cut your animals loose in an emergency, make them easily identifiable, whether that’s through spray paint or using markers to write on their hooves.

The animal evacuation team also asks that any specific medical needs are shared with them for animals that are brought to the fairgrounds. Sending medication or information about medication helps staff and volunteers take care of those animals once they arrive there.

The fairgrounds aren’t just open to the animal rescue team. Anyone who needs to evacuate can move livestock to the facility.

“A lot of people haul their own animals,” Miller said.

Call Yakima County Emergency Management at (509) 574-1903 for more information.

Need for more volunteers

Yakima County does trainings and collaborates with other counties’ teams. They’re working to pool resources in time between neighboring counties, Miller said, but they still need more volunteers.

“There are some days you have 20 (volunteers), there are some days you have five,” said Roger Holbrook, one of the volunteers.

Miller recruited many local firefighters and the group has grown organically as family and friends join.

There are currently 20 volunteers. Miller would like to have at least 40. Those interested in volunteering can call the Yakima Valley Emergency Management office.

It’s all volunteer work.

“This is all done at our own expense,” Jody Taylor said. “We don’t make a dime.”

Still, the dedication and care of those volunteers shines through. They will be there.

“It could be one cow, it could be six cows, it could be 60 cows,” Roger Holbrook said.

Many of the volunteers have felt the stress and pain of an evacuation firsthand. They want animals to be safe and sound.

“It’s a good way to give back to the community,” said volunteer Bryce Holbrook.

“I was born and raised around livestock,” said his twin and fellow volunteer, Colton Holbrook. “I just enjoy working with the animals.”