Woman helps make daring rescue of dozens of horses trapped in California's Mountain Fire

VENTURA, Calif. — When the Mountain Fire erupted in southern California’s Ventura County on Nov. 6, residents had only minutes to flee with their lives and their belongings — whatever they could grab.

But for equestrian communities threatened by the encroaching flames, the situation was far more complicated and help was urgently needed. 

Robyn Fisher was one of many who answered the call for help.  The equestrian owner and trainer at R Farms raced into the fire zone when she heard several horses were in danger and needed transport to safety.

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The first stop was a facility where flames were burning across the street.

"It was a lot more dire than I had anticipated," Fisher told FOX Weather.  "Little did I expect it to be as dire and smoky and escalated as it already was. I was quite nervous... I mean, all you could see was orange smoke around us."

She was able to quickly get four horses into her trailer.

"And I thought that I was being smart by going out the driveway in the opposite direction. But it actually was worse," she said. "And I ran into a fireman and I stopped and I said, ‘I can't turn around. What do I do?’"

She said the firefighter told her to stay in the middle of the road and "whatever you do, do not stop. And if you have shavings in the trailer, make sure your windows are closed."

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Her assistant, Tony, guided her through the thick smoke that obscured the way out.

"He pulled out his phone and called up the navigation in front of us, and he was telling me when to turn, when to go straight and that kind of stuff because all I was seeing was smoke and feeling the heat," she said. "And I thought that I had made a huge mistake and was actually going to go up in flames."

'It was that dire'

She said she just did barely escape the flames - a fate not afforded to another horse rescue team just minutes behind her.

"There was another rig following me, and they loaded up four more horses. They actually were not as lucky as me," she said. "They did the same exit that I did and were probably 2 to 3 minutes behind me and their rig caught on fire, and they actually had to unload the horses and run them down the street in hand."

Fisher spent the next two days making runs to facilities in the fire zone and saving as many horses as they could as pleas for help came in from social media posts and calls from friends.

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"Later in the afternoon, I actually went back to the origin of where the fire started. I just had a funny feeling," she said. "We found a bunch of horses tied to trees, dogs running loose are people that just looked helpless. And we loaded up another five horses and made another trip to the Ventura County Fairgrounds. It was that dire."

Fisher was grateful the first responders in the area understood the need and urgency to rescue the animals.

"They understand that animals - they can't get out on their own," she said. "So we pretty much with the horse trailer, had as much access as any of the servicemen, and they would just wave us through. And, you know, it was at our own risk. But they understand that the horses have to get out."

In all, Fisher said she and her team rescued 40 horses from the wildfire.

Overall, the Mountain Fire destroyed 240 homes and structures and damaged another 125. Six people were injured, according to CALFire.  The fire has scorched more than 20,000 acres and was at 82% containment Thursday evening.