Fleeing the Creek Fire: Owners bring beloved pets — over 300 of them — to Clovis for safety
More than 300 animals are being housed inside the Granite Ridge Intermediate School wrestling room in Clovis because of the Creek Fire that is ravaging neighboring mountain communities.
Cats, dogs, parrots and even a garter snake are among those taking temporary refuge there, while geese, ducks, chickens and a guinea pig were sent to the Fresno Fairgrounds.
Jennie Sa, shelter manager for the Central California Animal Disaster Team, said it has been a nonstop process since Monday night, when the first people began bringing their beloved animals to the shelter.
“We’re really grateful to help our own community,” she said. “This is just a labor of love. This means so much to the animals to have a safe place and for the owners to know their animals will be cared for, just to give them less stress.”
Pablita Garcia of Bass Lake was one of those who took advantage of the Clovis pet shelter. She was concerned at first because she didn’t know what to do with her cat Jasmine.
“I was really worried because not everybody likes pets,” she said. “I have friends who say you can stay here, but not they’re not cat people. A lot of them have dogs, but not cats and having this is a life saver. Not just for me, but for Jasmine. It’s a life saver.”
Garcia said she’ll stay with her friends in Madera while firefighters battle the fire, which as of early Monday night had burned 143,929 acres with 0% containment.
Marianne Aaronian of Shaver Lake brought her two cats and two huskies to Clovis.
“I didn’t want to take them down to Fresno because of the heat,” she said. “Just grab things quick. It’s a scary situation and it’s so hard to be here. I’m so thankful that they can take care of them.”
Garcia said she’s praying for the firefighters, but her thought is also on her Bass Lake home.
“I hope they get this fire out soon so I can go home and see if my house is still there,” she said. “It’s topsy-turvy. Everything is a mess. It’s really frightening not knowing what you’re going home to.”
