After the Solono County SPCA received some harsh criticism of how they handled a mandatory evacuation order due to encroaching Nelson Fire, ABC10 reached out to the animal welfare organization for a detailed account of what happened.
Critics say shelter workers abandoned vulnerable animals and a volunteer in a rush to save themselves. They responded with their side of the story; an account corroborated by the Vacaville Police Department.
Bridget Bloesch, kennel staff supervisor, disputed the characterization that they abandoned the animals. The fire, its spread accelerated by the Delta breeze, which normally kicks up in the early evening, began encroaching on the shelter shortly after 6 p.m.
Bloesch said she first learned of the mandatory evacuation from the shelter’s director, who was there with another worker.
“I got a call from the director requesting help evacuating at 6:15 p.m. The fire department said to get the animals out,” she said, adding she immediately headed over, but then got word from the director that the fire was too fast and officers told them they had to leave.
Workers had 10 minutes to grab as many animals as they could and get out, Bloesch told ABC10. Police and firefighters told the workers they would stay behind and get the rest of the animals out.
As the fire encroached, police officers put dogs in their cars to take them to safety. The fire department posted firefighters outside the cat building to protect it until they could get the cats out.
“Hours later, about 9 p.m., two staff members were allowed to be escorted in by police to collect the remainder of the cats,” Bloesch said.
When they arrived, they found a volunteer on the premises, who went to the shelter without their knowledge.
“We would never leave a person behind. If we knew he was in there, we would have called to inform first responders to get him out,” the agency said in a post on its Facebook page.
Another criticism lobbed at the Solano SPCA is that they did not have an evacuation plan. But Bloesch says the shelter has a plan, but with only 10 minutes to leave, it was impossible to fully implement.
Lt. Mark Donaldson of the Vacaville Police Department corroborated her statement: Even with a plan, it would not be reasonable to expect the shelter to get all the animals out in 10 minutes, he said in an email.
“It absolutely would not have been reasonable given the circumstances. Fires and winds change course rapidly as they did in this situation. All those that worked to save these animals did an incredible job under some difficult conditions. Thankfully no animal’s lives were lost.”