Horses burned in Washington wildfire recover on ranch with volunteer help

Record ID: 1627341

  • Title: Horses burned in Washington wildfire recover on ranch with volunteer help
  • Date: 18th July 2021
  • Summary: ROCK ISLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (JULY 17, 2021) (REUTERS) VOLUNTEERS EMILY NES (LEFT) AND STARLA ZO DORE AND (RIGHT) HELPING A YOUNG HORSE BURNED BY THE CHUWEAH CREEK FIRE DRINK FROM A BUCKET OF MILK FORMULA AS IT RECOVERS ON A RANCH OPERATED BY AN ANIMAL WELFARE NONPROFIT CLOSE OF ANOTHER INJURED HORSE WITH BURNS ALONG ITS FACE TWO INJURED HORSES IN THE STALL CLOSE
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2021 14:12
  • Keywords: Chuweah Creek Fire Nespelem Rock Island U.S. northwest wildfires Washington state animal welfare nonprofit Okandogs horses burned volunteer ranch
  • Location: ROCK ISLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • City: ROCK ISLAND, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,United States,Wildfires/Forest Fires,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EMDAB7R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS IMAGES OF INJURED ANIMALS. SOME VIEWERS MIGHT FIND THE IMAGES OF WOUNDED ANIMALS DIFFICULT TO WATCH
    Horses burned and injured in a wildfire in eastern Washington state were getting treatment and time to heal on Saturday (July 17) on a ranch run by an animal welfare group with help from local volunteers.
    The rescued horses, all of which were mares or young foals, suffered a range of injuries from the Chuweah Creek Fire that was sparked by lighting strikes on July 12 and has burned mostly on tribal lands of the Colville Reservation, devastating parts of the tiny community of Nespelem.
    "You have more severe burns on the lower leg. Anywhere from what they call the coronet band (hoof area) all the way up to their stomach," Emily Nes, a volunteer with the equine rescue group Chili Pepper, told Reuters on Saturday on the ranch in Rock Island, about a two-hour drive southwest of Nespelen.
    Photos from Reuters last week showed horses walking along completely burnt hillsides along Nespelem and a TV station in Spokane cited the Colville Tribes Environment department as saying that some of the badly burned animals had to be euthanized.
    "They have a lot of damage to the mammary glands and even up underneath their tails, all along their bellies," Nes said about the horses bring treated at the ranch, adding that many of the mares were either lactating or had foals with them.
    Nes and the other volunteers are with an equine rescue group called Chilly Peppers. The ranch itself is operated by a local animal welfare nonprofit called Okandogs.
    Nes and her 11-year old daughter came to the ranch from nearby Wenatchee where Nes said they "just dealt with our own fire".
    The Chuweah Creek Fire is just one of dozens of wildfires ravaging the U.S. northwest. It has burned 35,000 acres (over 140,000 hectares) and was 25% contained, the Northwest Incident Management Team 12 said in its most recent update on Saturday.
    At the Rock Island ranch, the horses are getting a cocktail of treatments that include antibiotics, burn creams, colloidal silver sprays for wound care, and cold-water baths, Nes told Reuters.
    Some of the injuries are difficult to see.
    "When the horses were originally burned, their skin almost melts together, and as they walk away or move, it begins to kind of split," Nes said.
    A veterinarian was scheduled to visit the horses at the ranch on Sunday (July 18), Nes said, and in the meantime they were receiving 24-hour care from the volunteers.
    Some 70 major active wildfires were listed last last week as having burned more than 1 million acres in 12 states, the National Interagency Fire Center, said.
    The situation represented an unusually busy start to the annual fire season, coming amid extremely dry conditions and record-breaking heat that has baked much of the West in recent weeks.
    Scientists have said the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires are largely attributable to prolonged drought and increasing bouts of excessive heat that are symptomatic of climate change.
    (Production: David Ryder, Mana Rabiee)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register