Rescue workers have swung into action to board, feed and treat displaced animals – and find those who may be trapped. As the wildfires besieged Los Angeles, marauding through hillside suburbs at an impossibly fast and ferocious pace, 500 miles away Garrett Needles and the volunteers with the North Valley Animal Disaster Group started making plans.
![[Dani Anguiano]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/05/18/Dani_Anguiano.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The northern-California based group specializes in helping evacuate, rescue and shelter animals during catastrophes, and has responded to some of the state’s largest and most devastating wildfires. Needles, the nonprofit’s executive director, who had recently retired as an assistant chief after 30 years working for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), had a feeling their expertise would be needed.
![[a cat sits on a desk]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b301afc52a0db3211eef844a775cc0ef97a71e38/0_0_3952_2576/master/3952.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“They hadn’t experienced something like this and, of course, us going through our large fires … unfortunately we happen to be more experienced,” Needles said. The fires in Los Angeles have destroyed more than 10,000 homes and killed at least 27 people, becoming some of the worst in California history. Those who work with animals know that when flames tear through communities, sending families fleeing and leveling neighborhoods, they create a disaster for an untold number of animals.
![[a person collects donated pet items]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b92825a135166e02f33015510e8f090f23515963/0_0_5750_3725/master/5750.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Within the fire zones are pets and livestock, many left behind by owners unable to reach them or evacuate them in time, as well as injured wildlife. As firefighters and emergency workers race to respond to disasters, local shelters and animal nonprofits also spring into action to board pets, treat those with burns or smoke injuries and find those trapped in burn areas.
![[a dog in a cage]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ddb801ab870c8da379c5f1ecb9ca76d720eb7916/0_0_5136_3538/master/5136.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
