Daybreak Criations Alpacas Evacuate for High Park Fire in Colorado
Our story and tips for future reference

June 9, 2012 PM
We had driven up to Estes Park, Colorado on Friday June 8, 2012 to set up for a weekend of sharing information about alpacas, fiber and socialize with friends/breeders. We were enjoying the first day of the Estes Park Wool Market when about mid-morning the tent was a buzz about the large plume of smoke that could be seen north of town. We heard a few locations it might be and thought it was at least a couple days away if it moved towards our ranch. As everyone speculated where the fire actually was, we head back to the hotel after dinner to relax and take in the beautiful sunset.

While we were in Estes Park, our 17 year old daughter Kaitlin stayed home so she could apprentice at a wedding that Saturday. Waiting for her to check in that she was home, we continued to check email for updates on the fire. About 1:30 AM when we checked email for fire updates we saw that the highway we use to access our ranch was being closed due to the fire. Panic set in. About that time Kaitlin called to say she was at the roadblock. We could hear Kaitlin’s discussion with the Larimer County Sheriff. Kaitlin said we had over 140 alpacas and that she needed to get home. The Sheriff proceeded to tell her that the fire had jumped the Poudre River and that she had better get the animals moved. Upon hearing that, I woke up Ron and said we need to get home.

Three weeks earlier there was the Hewlett Gulch Fire not too far from our ranch. Many area breeders and friends called to say they were available should there be a need to evacuate the animals. With so many offers, I took all the little pieces of paper with names and phone numbers and made a master list. I hung it on the refrigerator so if it was ever needed, it would be easy to find. Little did I know that we would actually have to take people up on their offers. Between my daughter and I we decided on who was going to call who for help. We quickly packed our suitcases and drove to the Estes Park Fairgrounds to hook up our trailer. The two alpacas and our booth would have to stay for now.







June 10, 2012 AM
For about 30 minutes there was no cell service as we descended down the canyon from Estes Park to town. Once back in cell range Kaitlin said she was heading to the roadblock to meet the trailers as they arrived. As we approached the roadblock we could see our daughter in her pickup leading a long line of vehicles and trailers up our road. What a great feeling! Another friend and trailer arrived just ahead of us and so we showed our drivers license to the Sheriff at the roadblock and said they were with us. Between 3:00 AM and about 5:15 all of the alpacas, llamas and two barn cats were on their way to the Larimer County Fairgrounds which had been designated for livestock evacuation. We were the first to arrive with animals. The four guardian dogs went in the next trip to the humane society.

Although we hadn’t received the official evacuation call, we felt the need to get the all the animals moved off the ranch. I felt it was better to err on the side of caution than to wait and see if the fire would reach us. It was the terrible smoke from the fire three weeks prior that helped us to reach that decision. The earlier fire didn’t reach our property but the smoke was so bad I had wished a couple evenings during that fire that I had moved the animals. About 10:30 AM we received the pre-evacuation notice which meant we needed to be prepared to leave at a moments notice. About 11:00 AM we were called to evacuate. Thirty minutes wouldn’t have given us enough time to call for trailers and get the animals out. We were so glad we had already moved them.

In the back of your mind you think, it can’t happen to us, it won’t come that far, etc. But we have learned to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Since we had evacuated in 2004 due to a fire I felt a little better prepared as to how to load all the animals. I have seen emergency planning lists that say have halters labeled with each animals name so you can quickly halter and lead the animals into the trailers. That might be needed for horses but for alpacas and llamas, they will herd pretty well. Lead one of them onto the trailer with a halter/lead and the others will follow with a little encouragement. Remember they may be loading into a strange trailer in the middle of the night and there are a lot of people around that they don’t know. You can see their panic. Try to stay as calm as possible and keep your voices at a normal level.




Upon arrival at the fairgrounds, the animals had to be offloaded and sorted into groups of about eight. Depending on their sex and age, pregnancy status, moms and babies etc. we had to have fewer in some stalls. The stalls they were going to be living in for an undetermined length of time were about 10’X10’. With solid side walls they couldn’t see each other like at home. I think this added to their stress. Not ideal but it was a safe place.

The community showed up to help care for the over 300 evacuated animals. We had a group that would fill water buckets twice a day for us. A local hardware store donated water buckets and a friend/customer brought out a couple fans for our maternity girls. We had area friends and breeders show up with hay and a hand to help clean the 20 stalls we were occupying. With many of the animals evacuated to the fairgrounds being horses, the need for hay was tremendous. Again, the community stepped up and brought hay to the fairgrounds. We use the large 700+ lbs. bales at our ranch so bringing hay with us was not an option. Not to mention there wasn’t time.

This was our first experience with the Red Cross. They kept us fed and provided some of the things you might not think to grab when you are in a hurry like shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. For those who didn’t have a place to stay, cots were provided in the barns and other buildings at the fairgrounds. They had mental health professionals available for those that needed to talk to someone. The several days of not knowing if your home is gone or not begins to wear on you emotionally. In addition, many people had to turn their animals loose as the fire was moving so fast their wasn’t time to round them up. The Mounted Posey with the Sheriff Department would go up the canyons many times a day trying to catch livestock and bring them back to the fairgrounds where they could be matched up with their owners.

We attended briefings twice a day. At these briefings we would hear from the Incident Commander, Fire Chiefs from the different areas and the US Forest Service. They would tell us areas the fire ran each night, how many more acres were lost, direction of the fire, and how the weather would impact their next moves. In the early days of the fire, they weren’t fighting the fire, they were only working on structure protection. They held the news of homes lost until about six days into the fire. Our day came for them to report on our road. Each area or road was taken to a room where you would be with neighbors when they said which homes were lost so those that lost their home would have some support. One home six properties down from us was lost. Our home was saved. You are happy yet you feel the pain of those who don’t get the good news we received. Unfortunately one woman lost her life. She missed the 911 call telling her to evacuate. Her home was in the area where the fire first started so she didn’t have any notice it was coming.

Coming home the first night was really strange. One side of our road was green with a corn crop thriving and the other charred right down to the road. You could see how the firefighters kept the fire only a few feet from each home. They did an awesome job! Once at our ranch it was a relief to see all the structures still standing. The animals were still at the fairgrounds so the barn being empty seemed very strange. A place that was usually so full of life the last 13 years was so quiet. We were eager to get the animals home but I still had a fear of the fire turning and coming back. The fire came in on three sides of our property. The north side of our property was unburned and still susceptible to fire. With the rain and storms that are now coming, I worry about another lightening strike. As of the writing of this article, the fire is contained but continues to burn west of us in the national forest.

Everyone in the burn area is being encouraged to purchase flood insurance. With the recent rains have come the mudslides. The road to our street has been closed a couple times since the fire due to mudslides. One was 5’ high and 200 yards long!

One thing to consider should you find yourself in an evacuation situation, once you leave your home, you might not be able to get back in. Take what you must have on your first trip out. There may not be a chance to go back. We had the National Guard posted at the end of our street preventing people from going up the canyon before it was deemed safe and to prevent looting. That lasted for over two weeks. It was nice that no one could just show up at the ranch unannounced. We had to travel down to let friends and family in past the roadblock.






Below are some things that may be helpful should you find yourself in an evacuation:

Things to do before an emergency occurs:
-Have a list prepared of who can come to help
-What size trailer do they have?
-Can they house animals if the county doesn’t have a designated location?
-What can they house-males, females, dogs, cats, etc?

Have all of your important documents in one place where they can be collected quickly.

Important documents might be:
Birth Certificates
Marriage Licenses
Wills
Insurance Policies

Other important items to remember:
Medication
Computers & back up drives
Family photographs, scrapbooks

Having been through the Picnic Rock Fire in 2004, we later learned that our county had an emergency email alert system. We signed up to receive the emergency updates. It allows us to track the progress of the emergency and to get information before the press has access to it.

We also learned that you can sign up to receive reverse 911 calls to your cell phone or other numbers you designate. To find out how to sign up in your area for notifications to numbers other than your home phone, Google Reverse 911 and your county name. You can usually add phone numbers for your address on-line. Many municipalities now offer this type of notification about emergencies in the local area.