Help Pours In After Animal Shelter Fire

As forlorn firefighters sifted through the charred remains of Escondido’s only animal shelter Monday, it seemed that Noah’s Ark had sailed into Dante’s Inferno.

Two 12-foot Burmese pythons were being treated for smoke inhalation. An emu had been sent to Carlsbad for safe harbor. Charlie, a dachshund mix with burned face and paws, was wheezing audibly and receiving an intravenous plasma drip.

Sleep-starved veterinarians and volunteers confronted a disaster that emerged out of the fog Sunday morning, when 40-foot flames gutted the nonprofit Escondido Humane Society’s shelter. In all, of the about 225 animals in the shelter, as many as 130 dogs, cats, guinea pigs, chinchillas and others were lost.

Among the victims: a rat that was used in classroom education programs, a cat named Zach that had been the shelter’s mascot, a rabbit named Honey Bunny, who comforted Alzheimer’s patients, and a crotchety iguana named Mr. D.

The northern San Diego County city began opening its wallets and homes Monday. There was a list of residents hoping to adopt one of the animals saved from the blaze. Others were piecing together impromptu foster homes as animal shelters across the region became overwhelmed by the homeless survivors. A firefighter adopted one dog, and named him Flame.

“When your heart hurts, you find something for your hands to do,” said Escondido Fire Department spokeswoman Carol Rea. “There is a lot of sadness here, and a lot of compassion.”

Volunteers were already trying to raise money to build a new shelter. A stream of well-wishers flocked to the fire site Monday, walking past several bouquets of flowers and hand-drawn pictures of animals left behind by children.

Animal lovers searched for a silver lining in the twisted remains of the shelter, hoping that they would build a state-of-the-art facility in its place.

“It’s possible for us to dream some dreams that weren’t possible before,” said Terri Rodgers, the Humane Society’s development coordinator, as she hugged a weeping supporter toting a $250 check. “We’ve been handling more animals than ever. Now we can make some plans to handle them well.”

There were bright moments: Sherrie Brough, a teacher at a nearby middle school, brought her class to the shelter the day before the fire to adopt a rabbit. She stopped by the shelter Monday and learned that the animal had survived.

The fire, which caused as much as $1 million in damage, erupted in a laundry room on the south side of the shelter shortly before midnight Saturday, Rea said. Forty firefighters responded to the blaze, but realized quickly that their powerful hoses, which were hastening the collapse of the roof, may have been doing more harm than good. So they turned off the hoses and dashed inside, effectively sacrificing the building to save as many animals as they could.

Inside, firefighters began snapping the locks off kennels and shooing cats and dogs outside. One dog, they said, was trying to gnaw through a fence to get out.

Then, in a desperate measure reminiscent of an old-time, bucket-by-bucket operation, firefighters began carrying animals out, one by one, to the waiting arms of volunteers. One dog was placed into a news van. Chickens were ushered into a firetruck. Onlookers ripped apart pieces of fabric to fashion leashes.

“The fire was just blazing,” said Carrie Hoff of the San Diego County Department of Animal Control. “And there were these dogs, just standing there, completely confused but safe. They were incredibly resilient. But it was also incredibly sad to know how many were left inside.”

The remains of many animals will never leave the ashes of the shelter, because the rubble will probably be bulldozed.

About 35 animals who needed immediate medical attention were taken to nearby Acacia Animal Hospital. By Monday afternoon, the hospital had lost a puppy and a chinchilla, said Dr. Gary Gallerstein, the hospital director and a member of the Escondido Humane Society’s board of directors.

The other animals had been stabilized, said Gallerstein, who stayed awake for more than 30 hours treating the victims. Most were suffering from smoke inhalation, and many were being treated much the same way that humans are, with a blend of intravenous fluids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and medication to help them breathe.

The fact that the fire started in the laundry room, which was used to store supplies and wash towels and blankets, suggested an accident, Rea said.

Still, the Escondido Fire Department called in several agencies, including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the Metro Arson Strike Team and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to “consider every possibility,” including arson, she said.

“The public is frustrated,” Rea said. “They want an answer. We want one too, but we want to make sure it’s the right one.”

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Donations can be sent to the Escondido Humane Society, Palomar Community Bank, 355 W. Grand Ave., Escondido, 92025.