Horse owners in the Malibu equestrian community breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday after they managed to get their horses out from the Franklin Fire area overnight.
Many of them said they had an early morning scare from the fire as they rushed to take their horses to a large animal shelter set up at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.
“I was there at three in the morning,” Jocelyn Writer said following the harrowing night as she saved her horse Cashew from his stable in the direct line of the fire. “I was just driving into flames and I was like, ‘I gotta get my horse!’”
Cashew and a dozen other horses have water and food away from the flames and smoke at the Pierce College shelter, which can easily house 200 horses.
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The college’s president said the shelter can be expanded to accommodate more animals as the school staff is trained for a situation like this.
“We will stay open as long as we need to until the fire is over, and it’s safe for them to return,” Aracely Aguilar, the Pierce College President said.
The hope is that the horses will have some place to return to as stables are often the first to burn in wildfires.
