Trial By Fire

The W-D ranch was considered a relatively safe haven. The area around the barns had been swept clear of brush and other burnables. The local fire department had inspected the farm’s fire-prevention steps the previous July, and declared that the preparations would keep any trouble away from the facility. In case of fire, the firemen told the DeVans, “The best thing was to leave the horses where they were, because it was all cleared off,” Kathy said.

At 1:00 a.m. on October 26, after making the last of their hourly checks on the fire from the hilltop, the DeVans retired for the night. There was no sign of danger, imminent or otherwise.

At 3:00 a.m. a Sheriff’s Deputy called to warn them that the wind had changed direction and the fire was heading toward them—fast.

The Firestorm Erupts

There was no time to evacuate, and little chance for assistance. Help from the fire department was impossible, since their resources had long ago been called away. The DeVans, their ranch hands and a few nearby boarders quickly gathered as many animals as they could onto the 20-acre, brush-free sandy area around the barns, roping arena and house. (Amazingly, the animals remained calm throughout the ordeal.) The volunteers hosed down the main house and other buildings. One boarder was able to save the tack building while another watered down one of the hired men’s homes.

By 4:00 a.m. the fire was sweeping past the house. In half an hour the fire had passed through. The hay barn and manure piles burned, but the other buildings were spared. The farm buildings and its animals were largely unscathed.

Searching for Stragglers

There were, however, some animals unaccounted for. During the race to round up the horses and cattle, not all had been found.

At daylight Kathy DeVan jumped on the four-wheeler and went searching for six missing horses. Darrel and Jeralyn Koupal, the horses’ owners, arrived and began searching the areas where they expected the animals would hide in the100-acre pasture. Around 6:30 a.m. they found them, standing together. The horses’ faces were swollen and the skin crinkled; the depth and severity of the burns was impossible to determine.

At 8 a.m. the DeVans called Dr. Kent Sullivan (a Boarded Surgical Specialist) and Dr. Deborah Kemper (an Internal Medicine Specialist). The two form a husband and wife team known as West Coast Equine in Somis. Dr. Sullivan was able to slowly walk the horses 600 yards to the barn area, though it was quite painful for the animals to move. He noted that the only obvious burn damage was singed tails, eyelashes and muzzles. The horses were definitely in need of supportive care, though, so they were moved three miles to a nearby horse ranch—Joe and Sharon Goodman’s horse rescue ranch.