Help For Animals Affected By The Detwiler Fire

There are ways for Detwiler Fire evacuees to connect with people who are able to take their animals temporarily.

Katie Myers and some friends from Modesto responded to a request for help that came through the Mariposa Sheriff's Office.

"They asked us to hook up our trailer and head this way to grab some livestock and bring it to safety," Myers says.

They were delayed for a time on Highway 140 south of the fire in Catheys Valley, where the CHP has blocked the road.

"This is what happens when there is a fire," she says, "We always are on call to go and then often, we run into this problem: we have to sit and wait until we get further directions to where we can do what we need to do."

In Merced, Amy Banks started a Detwiler Evacuees Support Group on Facebook.

"Everybody who has land available or pasture available," Banks says, "we're trying to list who they are and then trying to match families at that location."

About five thousand people have been evacuated because of the fire.

Fairgrounds in neighboring counties have been able to keep some of the larger animals.