BROOKE USA HELPS IN TIMES OF DISASTER.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Fires along the Pacific Coast force thousands to evacuate and equines Are in need of shelter and care.

Dry, gusty conditions could spread the flames even more.

Firefighting teams across the West Coast braced for unpredictable wind gusts and drier weather on Monday, conditions that threatened to make new kindling out of forests and strengthen already dire wildfires that have burned more than five million acres, destroyed scores of homes and left at least 24 people dead.

Disastrous wildfires during the 2020-season have forced hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and turned forests, fields and communities into blasted landscapes, covered by hazardous smoke and falling ash.

State leaders have raced for weeks to contain one spiraling fire after another, straining their emergency services and prompting them to plead for help from other states and the federal government.

Wildfires are a part of the west coast landscape, but in recent years the fire season is starting earlier and ending later each year. Due to changes in climate—warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring snowmelt—create longer and more intense dry seasons that increase moisture stress on vegetation and make forests more susceptible to severe wildfire.

Brooke USA has helped support equines affected by the wildfires for the last three years, raising funds to help nonprofits with evacuation and emergency needs in California. Moving hundreds of horses, donkeys and mules, as well as trapped livestock on any given day is a Herculean task, but rushing to move them to safety while a deadly wildfire is bearing down on volunteers and workers is nothing short of miraculous.

We have expanded our Equine Emergency Fund to help those in California, Oregon and Washington.

Oftentimes these equines are the forgotten victims of the wildfires, but with your support of Brooke USA’s Pacific Coast Equine Emergency Fund we are able to help the organizations to haul, shelter and care for the animals that would otherwise perish in the flames and smoke.

If you need information on how to evacuate your equines during the wildfires and COVID-19 please see the article from The Horse.

The authorities have warned for days not to expect relief soon, saying that even though winds could help disperse some of the smoke that has smothered cities like San Francisco and Oakland, it could also dry out brush and fan flames, reversing the progress firefighters have made. The winds, caused by a slow-moving storm system off the coast of Oregon, were expected to last most of the week and could push smoke to Montana, Idaho and even Canada, meteorologists said.

The air quality in these areas is also of dire concern. The effects of the air can prove hazardous and deadly in both people and equines, alike. The resulting consequences are respiratory distress and cardiac arrest.

Your donation to Brooke USA’s Pacific Coast Equine Emergency Fund will help thousands of equines receive the care and treatment they need as the fires ravage the coast.

Sources: Information about the current fires and air quality provided by the New York Times in an article dated 9/14/2020. Sensor data from PurpleAir. Readings have been adjusted to better account for the properties of wood smoke. The levels on the map are based on the air quality index, a measure of how clean or unhealthy the air is.

Where Have We helped?

The Board of Directors of Brooke USA committed to help, and with your support we directed the funds to aid equines in need. We are proud of our partner Sonoma Community Animal Response Team (CART) who has been activated with the LNU Complex Fires to haul horses to safety. The cargo trailer funded by your generous donations is saving hundreds of horses as they are moved to safety.