PARADISE, Calif. – When Jeff Hill returned to his neighborhood in Paradise, California, after evacuating during the Campfire, he came across a wayward horse — in a backyard swimming pool. The horse appeared to have jumped in to escape the flames and was caught in the pool cover.
He had been checking on a neighbor’s house to see if it was still standing when he discovered the horse, Hill wrote in a Facebook post. “We scrambled to unhook the pool cover and pulled her to the shallow end where we guided her up the steps.”
The horse got out, shook off, and “loved on us for a few minutes as a thank you, and walked off,” he wrote. Hill called for help and waited with the horse until resources could escort the horse out from the fire zone. As wildfires raged in different parts of California, residents were forced to evacuate — some without getting the chance to go home and grab their four-legged friends.
Searchers combing through the charred areas have rescued hundreds of animals — including dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, ducks, and a tortoise. Now, community organizations and good Samaritans are rallying to shelter the displaced animals and reunite them with their owners.