4/4/07 Bob and Jane Fleck are awarded their Ham Radio licenses to improve their emergency communications capacity when they volunteer to evacuate horses during wildfire emergencies.

Not long after we moved to our small ranch in N. LA County, a polo player friend of Jane's, Carol, suggested we go on call with her and a loose confederation of her horsey pals, all of whom had trucks w/horse trailers. The grim statistic is that only one in ten horses in LA County has a trailer for it.

The steadfast Jerry & Margo White (the go-to folks for handling exotic animals in LA) were in charge for Animal Control the first few years. They retired, the outfit got way more organized, we were issued jumpsuits & ID's, went through lots of certification drills and we still haul horses from harm's way when wildfire erupts.

These events can get pretty western, we handle all large animals. Pigs can be moved backwards if a bucket is put over their head. Or two people can take sheets of plywood and herd them into a trailer. Really. Goats are nimble and hard to snag in an open field. Mostly, all creatures are scared and glad to hitch a ride somewhere it isn't burning.