With fire season now here, emergency responders are going through a variety of training to prepare for the next emergency, including saving large animals. Animal rescue is quite common during wildfires.
Julie Winkel is holding horse handling and safety rescue training at her business, Maplewood Stables, for safety personnel who deal with wildfires. “Horses are big animals. They can hurt us easily by running over the top of us. So having this course as important to the safety of the volunteers and first responders as it is to the horses,” said Winkel.
Having horses run free during a wildfire is dangerous. ”A horse that escapes can run down the road and hit a car,” said Winkel. She first realized there was a need for training, when 50 of her horses had to be saved during the Washoe Drive Fire of 2012. In 2016, rescuers were not as successful with a fire in Palomino Valley. “First responders who were on the scene helping people to evacuate, but they didn’t know anything about horses,” said Winkel. “That was a lot of commotion and horse evacuations. It would be helpful to know the training so more than a few of us could assist,” said Carl Flowers from the Washoe County Search And Rescue Team.
Lessons at the training session range from dealing with what the horses are outfitted with, to handling a mare and her foal. “What we learned was mainly the approach of the horse. How to handle the horse. How to lead them around. And where to stand and where not to stand,” said Flowers. “We live in a fire area and it’s not if it is going to happen again. It’s when it’s going to happen again,” said Winkel.
The next rescue training session at Maplewood Stables won't be held until the fall. Maplewood’s owner says however that if anyone is interested in learning horse rescue techniques, they can contact the stables to see if they can get a practice lesson.
