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EVACUATING YOUR BARN IN A FIRE (page 2)
If your horses does not wear a halter while in the stall, the halter, with a cotton lead rope attached, should be hanging on the stall door or right next to it. In addition to halters already in the barn, Andrew G. Lang, D.V.M., Manager of Animal Health at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), suggests keeping a stash of halters and lead ropes in a place near the barn where they can be grabbed in a hurry.
What about the animals who refuse to be evacuated? If attempts to get an animal to move fail, you must leave him behind. That's a brutal statement, but if fire conditions worsen and you are unable to safely evacuate the animals still in the barn, either because they have been cut off from safety by the fire, are already down from smoke inhalation, or due to their refusal to leave the stall, you must—and this cannot be stressed enough—YOU MUST LEAVE THE BARN AND DO NOT GO BACK!
It is critical, in fact, to remove youngsters from the area if it looks as if animals may be trapped. In the midst of a fire it may seem "noble" for a youngster to try to rescue his or her horse or 4-H project or companion animal, but nobility in this instance is a tragic bit of fiction. One way to help children through the emergency if they are on the scene is to assign them a job, such as guarding a pasture gate if horses are being evacuated to that location. The job can involve opening and closing the gate as horses are brought to it, which can save precious minutes for the adult rescuers. Another possible assignment for youngsters would be keeping the barn dog (on a leash) or barn cat (in carrier or other container) a safe distance away from the barn and firefighting activity. A note of caution regarding barn dogs and cats: if you are a stranger to them you must be very careful in a rescue attempt. Please read Slim Ray’s article, Reigning Cats & Dogs, that follows this article. It was written for firefighters who are called upon to rescue animals, but the information is important for all of us.
Children, though, may not be your only re-entry worry. Adult horse owners may attempt re-entering the barn if they haven’t yet seen or been able to evacuate their own horse. Firefighters have all too often removed the bodies of people who safely escaped a burning building only to re-enter it to look for a pet or personal valuables. You don’t want this to be the case with someone you care about—or yourself.
