Two snakes and one iguana died when the Whittier Fire raged through the grounds of Rancho Alegre Saturday afternoon, July 8. Ten staff members were able to escape with four cats by literally stepping through flames of the encroaching fire, said Scout Executive Carlos Cortez for the Los Padres Boy Scouts Council. The council, which owns the ranch, operates The Outdoor School, a residential science program, during the school year and a sleepaway Boy Scout camp in the summer. The staff hopes that their beloved pet tortoise, which had just been released, was able to survive by burrowing into the ground.
Meanwhile, at nearby Saint Francis Ranch, six zebras and 12 rare Watusi cattle were spared. “Saint Francis must have been looking down on us,” said ranch owner Alexandra Geremia, who was in Santa Ynez when she got news of a brush fire at Camp Whittier. Given no time to evacuate, employees moved the zebras and cattle to a patch of grassless pasture, hoping the fire would not find any fuel there to burn. It worked. The animals “stayed very calm, as if they knew what to do,” said Geremia. “We were very lucky.”
As the fire grew to 7,800 acres on Saturday night and threatened to crest the Santa Ynez Mountains, a number of large and small animals fell under the evacuation order. Working with the Santa Barbara Humane Society and the Santa Barbara Equine Assistance and Evacuation Team, S.B. County Animal Services housed four horses at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, two in stables at UCSB, and one at the Humane Society, according to Animal Services Director Jan Glick. The Humane Society had also taken in eight cats, four dogs, four birds, and one guinea pig.