Camp Fire Assistance Information
University of California Cooperative Extension Butte County – Livestock Resources
UCCE Butte County – 530-538-7201
Livestock & Natural Resource Advisor: Tracy Schohr – 530-283-6262, tkschohr@ucanr.edu
Butte County Farm Bureau Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Assistance Fund
Butte County Farm Bureau – 530-533-1473, info@buttefarmbureau.com
California Farm Bureau Federation Farm & Rural Disaster Fund
Resources/Publications
Living with Fire – Before, During and After
Cal Fire Wildland Fire Safety for Your Livestock and Pets Factsheet
Caring for Livestock with Burns and Smoke Inhalation
Developing and Implementing a Ranch Wildfire Plan
A ranch wildfire plan should have several main components:
Protecting Buildings, Infrastructure and Information: Remove flammable vegetation within 100 feet of homes and other buildings. Don’t forget other critical infrastructure like propane tanks, wells, equipment sheds and barns. Also be sure you have protected critical legal documents and insurance information. You should also check CAL FIRE’s suggestions for putting together an emergency supply kit (http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Emergency-Supply-Kit/).
Protecting Forage: Many stock operations conservatively to ensure that we have fall forage for our livestock. You might consider creating fuel breaks to protect this forage. Disking or grading around the perimeter of pastures, or at least adjacent to potential ignition sources. Another alternative would be to use targeted grazing adjacent to roads or pasture boundaries. This can reduce the fuel load and slow a fire down. The width of any fuel break depends on the fuel type, topography/slope, and potential flame lengths that a fire might generate.
Protecting Livestock: Try to think ahead to how you might move animals out of harm’s way. Given enough warning, could you either haul livestock away from a fire or herd them to a safe location? Many, however, have too many animals to evacuate on short notice. Leaving animals in pasture (or “sheltering in place”) might be the best option in many cases. If you need to leave animals in place, be sure they have enough feed and water for several days. Will the animals have water if the power goes out? Be sure to take down temporary fences or other hazards that may injure animals as the fire moves through your property.
Water Supply: Water is critical for protecting our properties and for keeping livestock healthy. Do you have adequate water supplies for wetting down your buildings and facilities, or for directly fighting fire? If you have to pump water, do have a backup system in case you lose power? Can you provide stock water if the power goes out? You may wish to consider investing in a backup generator and/or additional water storage.
Escape Routes: Ideally, you should all have at least two routes in and out of our ranch properties. Try to think about at least two alternatives for moving livestock to safety in the event of a fire – and this means loading and unloading facilities, a plan for gathering livestock, and a clear understanding of the road system near our pastures. Narrow roads can be problematic for navigating with stock trailers, especially when fire equipment is also inbound. You should also check CAL FIRE’s suggestions for animal evacuations (www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/go-evacuation-guide/animal-evacuation).
Backup: Obviously, you can’t all be on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to a fast-moving fire. Consider working with friends, neighbors or colleagues to have a backup plan to evacuate or otherwise protect your livestock. Consider meeting with your neighbors to go over key livestock facilities, evacuation plans and access routes. Be sure to check in with these backup resources in the event of fire.
Communication Plans: Do you have phone numbers for the other ranchers in your area? Do you know who runs the cows or sheep next door? Most of us probably do! During fire season, many of us text or call our neighbors when we see smoke. Perhaps it’s time to formalize these calling trees.
