LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — During an evacuation, every second counts, and having to move large animals and livestock can add to that time and stress. Forty volunteers have dedicated their time to help get animals to safety during emergencies.
Bonnie and Hugh Templeton joined the Larimer County Horseman's Association (LCHA) when they first moved to Loveland in 1999. The two love their horses, but they also love helping the community in times when they need it most.
"A lot of people will not leave their homes, even in mandatory evacuation situations, if they cannot take care of their animals first. And so, we want to help them take care of their animals," said Hugh Templeton.
Hugh manages a team of 40 people who are a part of the LCHA Evacuation Team. This group of volunteers is trained to help assist the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, Larimer Humane Society and Loveland Fire Authority. In the first few days of the Alexander Mountain Fire, they responded to multiple calls for help, with 10 teams moving 27 animals.
"Everybody who lives along this area, you see a plume of smoke like we saw for the Alexander Fire and you know you got a problem up there," Hugh said. "Especially since it started very near the Sylvan Dale Ranch, which has 70 or 80 horses on it. We did evacuate two of their horses. And a whole lot of others evacuated horses from there."
Ruth Altman was one of the many people they were able to assist. She made the call for help the very first morning of the fire.
"They train on how to load horses in a stressful situation. They have homes and places for all these horses to go. They tell you, if we are involuntary, we will do everything we can to get you out and into a safe environment," Altman said.
The Templetons know that there can be moments of fear and the need for their support during emergencies.
"It is hard. Not everybody works with their horses to make sure that they will load in a trailer, so it can be a real project to get a horse into a trailer," Bonnie said.
The LCHA evacuation team goes through different training to best respond to the initial call for help, including trailer inspections, horse loading, transport process, callout process, and incident command system.
"When we got a call out, part of the training is adrenaline is not your friend," Hugh explained."Okay, if you let adrenaline take over and you do crazy stuff while you are doing things out there on a call, something will go wrong. So we try to teach people to take a breath, to be easy, be calm and go and do what you need to do and follow your training."
LCHA President Susan Kurzweil said when she first saw the Alexander Mountain Fire, she started thinking of the people in danger who needed help. She joined the group in 1999 to help the community when they needed it most.
"We've been doing this for many years. We've helped in several fires and floods, and there's nothing like seeing the horses that you've helped, and the people. It makes us feel really good," Kurzweil said. "It helps us as volunteers keep wanting to do it in the future."
The decades of involvement from both Kurzweil and the Templetons show not only their kindness but also their passion for ensuring their fellow community members receive the help they need.
"All of us, by the way, are volunteers and everything that we do is on our own dime, on our own time as well," said Hugh.
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