Jan Mansoor hears the frightened meow of a cat. And she’s grateful. Because it means the trap set out by her animal rescue group has captured another pet that survived the explosive Bald Range wildfire on August 7. “We are still recovering animals. Some of them are injured. Some of them are not,” explained Mansoor, who is with the Animal Lifeline Emergency Response Team, or ALERT. Her organization has received hundreds of requests for help finding pets that owners were forced to leave behind while fleeing the wildfire. “There was a lot of confusion, a lot of frustration,” she said. Part of that frustration was that ALERT couldn’t get inside Faulder until August 21, three weeks after the fire. “Our own team felt deflated because we couldn’t get in to help when we wanted to, even though we could access other parts of Summerland,” she said. Evacuees echo the same concerns. “We weren’t allowed in for a very long time, so a lot of animals sadly didn’t make it because of that,” said Samantha Kowalski, who lost her home in the wildfire. She told CTV News that on the day of the fast-moving fire, there wasn’t enough time to save all their animals. “I started just opening up all the animal pens so they would at least have a fighting chance,” she recalled. Somehow her ducks would survive. Many other animals would not. She lost about 30 chickens, four turkeys and most of her flock of quail. Kowalski believed her cats had survived the fire, but said she faced repeated obstacles trying to return to Faulder to find them after the fire had gone through. “There was a big delay in us being allowed back in. And when we called to try and gain access, we were told just to fill out permits,” she said. When her cats were eventually found, she said, “They were emaciated. Very skinny after being out here for more than two weeks...and really badly burned paws.” ALERT said locals who stayed behind to fight the fire, later stepped in to set and check traps when her group could not. Mansoor said the SPCA was given access to the community twice on ALERT’s behalf. But Kowalski believes some animals died, not from the fire, but from starvation and dehydration after. A spokesperson for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen said it wasn’t a safe area to enter, up until recently. “Any effort that could be made to allow anybody coming in, such as ALERT, to protect and recover animals, was made,” said Erick Thompson, RDOS, senior manager of communications. “There was nobody trying to keep people out because they just didn’t feel like letting them in. There was some serious concerns and risks that were associated with the destruction from this wildfire,” he said. Mansoor said one of the issues ALERT faced, was that they didn’t have escorts into the restricted zone. “Ninety percent of the fires that we’ve worked, we’ve not needed escorts. I do understand this fire was a lot more volatile,” she said. “There is a lot that we feel like could be streamlined, and I feel like the RDOS is willing to sit down and have that conversation with us,” she said. ALERT said they continue to reunite pets with their owners. “It’s so rewarding. It’s every reason why we do this,” explained Mansoor. She said her group will continue to come to Faulder and check traps daily, until residents believe there is no longer hope of missing pets being found.
