The Camp Fire, now California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire ever recorded, is 70 percent contained, after raging for 12 days. The Sacramento Bee reports that the current number of deaths stands at 79, with 699 people still unaccounted for. Wrapped up in the disaster from the beginning, along with the human residents of Paradise and the neighboring area, have been the animal residents—the pets, working animals, livestock, and wildlife that have also become victims, evacuees, rescuers, and comforters. Families who fled the inferno on a moment’s notice threw their pets into their cars and trucks, and ranchers rushed to get their animals to safety. Many wild animals were not lucky enough to escape. Animal shelters stepped in to house and care for rescued and injured pets, and working animals were brought in to help with search, rescue, and recovery, and to serve as comfort animals for the victims.
The Animals of California’s Devastating Camp Fire
-
-
-
The Cal Fire captain Steve Millosovich carries a cage full of cats that were found on the road after the Camp Fire moved through the area on November 9, 2018, in Big Bend, California. #
Justin Sullivan / Getty -
-
The 9-year-old pit bull Tone, who suffered burned paws in the Camp Fire, rests in the parking lot of Neighborhood Church of Chico, in Chico, California, on November 11, 2018. #
Stephen Lam / Reuters -
-
Araya Cipollini, 19, holds on to her dog T.J. near the burned-out remnants of her neighbor's home on November 10, 2018, in Paradise. Cipollini and her family lost their home nearby in the fire. #
John Locher / AP -
Dogs rescued from the fire are safe in the Oroville shelter, south of Paradise, California, on November 16, 2018. Pets were entrusted to three shelters set up in the neighboring areas of Paradise. #
Javier Tovar / AFP / Getty -
-
Suzanne Kaksonen, an evacuee of the Camp Fire, and her cockatoo, Buddy, camp in a makeshift shelter outside a Walmart store in Chico, California, on November 14, 2018. Kaksonen lost her Paradise home in the blaze. #
Noah Berger / AP -
-
-
California Governor Jerry Brown talks with emergency workers, including Robert Duvall, second from right, a chaplain with Winters Police Department, accompanied by his K-9 partner, Kepi, on site to provide emotional support to those in need after the Camp Fire on November 14, 2018, in Paradise. #
Rich Pedroncelli / AP -
Reuben, a comfort dog with the Lutheran Church Charities' K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry, gets attention from an attendee at the Neighborhood Church of Chico, which is serving as an emergency shelter for those displaced by the Camp Fire, in Chico, on November 11, 2018. #
Stephen Lam / Reuters -
Trish Moutard (center), of Sacramento, and other volunteers search for human remains with Moutard's cadaver dog, I.C., in a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire, in Paradise, on November 14, 2018. #
Terray Sylvester / Reuters -
-
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.