Wildfires rage on in Northern and Southern California
Fire weather alerts remain in effect for much of California as wildfires continue to burn throughout much of the state from the Oregon border south to San Diego County and from Nevada west to Santa Barbara County.
These wildfires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres of land, claimed many homes and businesses, killed at least one person and injured many people and animals.
California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in San Diego County, which has been the most severely affected by the recent wildfires, specifically the West Fire.
Recent California wildfires have set unfortunate historical records
Although wildfires in California are not anything new, many of the recent wildfires have been some of the worst in California history.
According to Cal Fire, 13 out of the 20 worst California wildfires have occurred in the past 15 years.
The Thomas Wildfire, which occurred in December 2017 and is still under investigation, has been the single worst wildfires in California on record. It killed one person as well as burned 281,893 acres and destroyed 1,063 structures throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
Wildfires affect animals too!
Animals, just as humans, are affected by wildfires, especially from smoke. As with any emergency, it is extremely important to have a pet and large animal disaster preparedness checklist available in the event of a wildfire.
For those outside of the wildfire disaster areas in California, the best way to help animals in need and to offer assistance is by making a donation to an animal organization, such as the San Diego Humane Society, in support of their animal rescue, relief, and assistance efforts.
In hard-hit San Diego County, The San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) has been sheltering companion animals at Los Coches Middle School while livestock have been evacuated to nearby Lakeside Rodeo Arena. SDHS has also been providing updates about the West Fire.
The San Diego Humane Society has been rescuing animal lives in disaster situations for more than 48 years when it first organized the Animal Rescue Reserve (ARR) in 1970. ARR is now a part of the emergency response team for San Diego County and its emergency responders are available whenever disaster strikes, seven days a week, 24-hours a day.
Jonathan Chapman
Jonathan was a VPHPM resident from 2016-2018. He is a licensed veterinarian with a career focus on veterinary public health, epidemiology, zoonotic disease, and One Health. He has been involved in a broad range of activities ranging from small animal general practice and emergency medicine to disease surveillance and outbreak investigation. Jonathan hopes to continue to promote medicine, public health, education, and local and international community collaboration around the world. Jonathan is originally from Chicago, Illinois and he has spent time living in St. Kitts, West Indies and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has 2 Golden Retrievers named Bauer and Nikki and 3 cats named Sienna, Simon, and Conchita.