An Armstrong woman who runs an equestrian business has spent the past week travelling to areas under threat from wildfires to rescue animals at risk from the flames.
It all started when Keelly Gordon found out friends were given an evacuation order because of the swift-moving White Rock Lake fire.
“They had six horse up there,” Gordon said. “So we were on standby to come and get their horses as soon as we needed to.”
When the evacuation alert was upgraded to an order, Gordon jumped into action, taking her truck and trailer to pick up the horses.
She also collected the family’s 18 dogs and six cats, taking all the animals, along with the family to her own farm near Armstrong.
“In that moment I realized there were other people that needed to make plans for their animals,” Gordon said. “So, we offered ourselves up. We went to get a couple more horses right away.”
Over a period of several days, Gordon wound up picking up 38 horses, a couple of cows and a donkey, along with the cats and dogs.
“Friday was probably the scariest day. It was apocalyptic almost when were moving them from Vernon to Coldstream. It was raining black ash,” she said. “My truck was completely covered with it. It was quite scary knowing the fire was all the way across Okanagan Lake but still causing this much effect with big embers dropping.”
She and her family are caring for many of the animals and some evacuees, with the remaining animals being cared for at a few other interior farms.
Gordon says many people have been in touch about offering supplies and money but she is encouraging them to contact local feed and tack stores in the interior, as many of them are accepting donations and distributing them where needed.
-- with files from CTV News --