Please ALWAYS have kennels ready

[mindy]

Tonight was one of the most scary nights of my life. We just got home from being evacuated from our house. The FIRE STATION across the street from our house just burnt to the ground. Everything was lost, they couldn't even get the trucks out. It was 45 minutes before the first truck from a surrounding town got here.

I always have my kennels together but I have the doors off. As soon as I saw the flames I put the doors on. When I started hearing explosions I scooped everyone up and put them in. The dogs' leashes are always hanging on a hook next to the door. Everyone (cats, dogs, and ferrets) cooperated perfectly. The police banged on the door then and we all got in the car. This all happened in a matter of minutes!

I grabbed the pets and pet food and that is it! Not even my wallet. We were extremely lucky that nothing happened to our house and we are back in now.

I just wanted to remind everyone that horrible things happen all the time and it happens faster than you could imagine!

Please hug your pets!!

[Johnny and Demon]

I had kinda the same situation a month ago .. The kennel of my ferrets was at the ferret room's door - always ready and my cat's kennel was in our room (because my cat always hide himself under the bed when he's scared). I was so glad the kennels were near !

I agree with you, Mindy - always be ready ! We never know !

[mindy]

You never know for sure! So scary!

My friend lives a ways a way (that is where we went when we were evacuated) and she was outside taking a picture of the flames when the explosions started. She said she could feel them! My husband said the walls were shaking when the explosions were going off. I didn't notice a thing other than the booms. I was too busy getting everyone rounded up.

So scary.

[airy]

OMG!! how scary. So glad to hear you all are okay. I always fear stuff like that, which is why I keep a kennel right on top on the cage, my dog is always with us..even at bedtime and the guinea pig who is caged would be easy enough to find, but I better start worrying about my cat since he is never around when I am looking for him, maybe I should start confining him in a room at night just in case. I was stupid enough to move in a house that is located right on a river in a floodzone, I did not live here last year but the people who lived here before me told me they had to be evacuated because of the rising waters last spring, so I have been worrying about that. I have so many animals, wonder where I could take them if that should happen this year. I sure as hell refuse to leave any of them here.

Mindy, did everyone get out all right at the fire station? My mother told me this morning that a apartment building down the road from where she lived burned too last night. Seems to be more fires than usual this year. Every day I seem to be hearing about a new one.

[mindy]

No one was hurt in the fire. I am so happy about that. I was worried because the fire just got so big so fast.

I hope that you don't have to deal with any flooding. If you are evacuated I hope that it won't be so rushed that you won't be able to get your cat.

[ferretmothertoo]

Airy, the good news is the river doesn't flood every year. The bad news is there have been at least 4 floods in the past 20 years. Your neighbours no doubt can tell you plenty of stories. My suggestion is that you find someone who lives on high ground who would be willing to take them temporarily and should there be indications that the river might flood take them there ahead of time. It might mean everyone being caged more than they are used to but it sure beats the alternatives.

I lived in the village for a year long before the floods became an issue. The land is flat on both sides of the river until the hills. Because of that the water spreads quickly. With the first flood the river spilled its banks at 6 in the morning and caught people unawares. The railway bridge started swaying from the force of the ice so they put box cars loaded with grain on it to steady it. Everything ended up in the river. Worst case scenario: if you have to be evacuated by boat, there may only be room for the humans. You would probably go by zodiac or rowboat. The operators may have to battle strong currents and ice chunks. Their lives are at risk as well. Their mission will be to get the humans out as quickly as possible. Even if they take your pets, will they be welcome at the evacuation centre? I do not mean to scare you. I sincerely hope you do not have to go through a flood. However, where you live in a flood prone area, some advance planning could pay dividends.

[airy]

Ferretmothertoo, I live just a few houses down from the Irving if we are speaking of Perth. My house is roughly 35 feet away from the river but the back lawn is flat and the river normally does rise up as high as ground level most years, but not normally any higher. The river bank is about 15 feet high, so how long would it take for it to rise that high? I was assuming it happened gradually but now I am not sure. I lived here before about 10 years ago and there wasn't any flooding issues then but i had people tell me about the ones like you just mentioned and that is scary.

If it did happen so fast like that and we did indeed have to evacuate by boat and could not bring along the animals, would it be safe to put the ferrets and other animals upstairs or even in the attic to get them to higher ground? I would think they would freeze to death since I imagine there would be no electricity in a situation like that. YOu are right, I do need to do some serious planning. i have some friends on the reserve who have a abandoned house there, Im sure they would have no complaints about us keeping our pets there if we do need to be evacuated, but if it can happen as fast as you just mentioned, i should seriously rethink things. Thanks for the heads up

Mindy, I seen pics of the firehouse on the news. that was quite a fire. So glad nobody was hurt.

[mindy]

The fire was horrible. The only evidence that anything happened there now is the big hole in the ground.

Here is a link to the story on CBC

www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/02/04/nl-fire-baie-040210.html

[ferretmothertoo]

Airy, not only are we talking Perth, we are talking the same area. I lived in the house next to the school board offices (used to be a school years ago). I saw pictures of the house surrounded by water on TV.

EMO keeps a very close watch on the water levels and I am sure will issue warnings if warranted but Mother Nature can be quite unpredictable. You have a combination of water, ice, temperature, snow melt, how much rain falls, how fast the ice melts and whether it dams up, how much water Beechwood and Mactaquac can let over the dams. There will be nothing gradual should the river spill its banks. It is like dumping a pail of water on the floor. If the water is high enough the electricity will be cut. You would not be allowed back in the house until it is deemed safe. The freshet takes place in April/early May so the weather is warmer but the water is freezing cold. If you had to leave the animals in the house on the second floor give them plenty of warm bedding, food and water and pray. I also imagine you would be a nervous wreck. Even though the officials may be sympathetic to their plight rescuing animals may not be top priority. Does the abandoned house on the reserve have any heat? It doesn't sound great but it beats a house surrounded by water. Anyway, the big thing is to have a plan in place ahead of time. I sincerely hope you never have to use it.

[Tressie]

Hi Folks,

I have not had an opportunity to check the message board lately because I've been busy with caring for my little visitor from NL.

It would appear that there have been several experiences lately that have been heads up to all of us to think about the safety of our fur families as well as, what to do in emergencies/disaster situations.

As already mentioned - have carriers ready to go in a flash and plan ahead. It was pretty tense here last year when we had the major forest fire near us, and people were being evacuated within a few kms of here.

With the number of ferrets I have, some which don't get along with others, and being on my own, on the twelve floor in a high rise - its a major concern in how to evacuate them along with one fairly large kitty. Realistically I'd have to put them into 3 pillow cases, and kitty into carrier - until I got them into the car to transfer them into the cage in the car.

Think about what you would do, and have a plan in place, ready to execute if needed. Rehearse it in your mind ahead of time - so you shift into automatic pilot and don't panic in the real situation.

Clearly Mindy had made a plan and executed it efficiently! Good going Mindy - and what a relief you are all safe.

Tressie