Although the Old Trails Fire in Spokane, Washington is now 100% contained, locals will be reeling from its destruction for the foreseeable future.
One such person is Donna Carberry.
Carberry’s home fell victim to the fire, but thankfully, with the help of her heroic dog, Shadow, she was able to escape with her life.
As the fire encroached on Carberry’s Spokane property, she had no idea her house was already on fire. She had lost her sense of smell as a lasting side effect of COVID-19.
Carberry and Shadow. Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society
But Shadow knew what to do.
“He kept trying to tell me nicely, and I wasn’t getting it,” Carberry said of Shadow.
So the three-year-old German Shepherd began slamming his body into Carberry’s back door, prompting her to investigate.
“By the time I got there and I opened the door up, my barn had already burned down,” she said.
At that point, the fire began to spread up the back steps of her house and was actively burning the side of the home.
“He literally saved my life,” Carberry said.
She knew she needed to evacuate but couldn’t catch her cat, Socksy. Once again, Shadow came to the rescue, gently putting his paw on the cat so Carberry could pick him up and carry him to safety.
As Carberry left the house, she saw even more destruction.
“Everything was on fire,” she said. “My truck and horse trailer burned up in the driveway ‘cause there was no time.”
Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society
Some good Samaritans in the neighborhood saw them struggling to leave the home and helped them move to safer ground on a nearby road.
“They took me over to Trails Road and sat me and the kitty and my puppy on the side of the road,” she recounted. “And it was, of course, just pandemonium.”
She decided to sit and wait it out a bit. But when she saw someone else evacuating her horses, the stranger stopped to ask how long she had been there.
“I said, ‘since noon on Saturday,’” Carberry said. “And she said, ‘Honey, it’s 8:00 on Sunday night.’”
The woman loaded Carberry and her pets in her truck and brought them to a Red Cross relief center.
Carberry had fallen during her speedy evacuation and was in need of medical attention. To recover, she would need to remain in a wheelchair, making her temporarily unable to care for her pets.
Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society
A neighbor stepped in to care for Socksy, while nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society, which was on-site at the relief center, quickly made arrangements to care for Shadow.
The nonprofit, which is leading the companion animal response for the Washington State Pet Task Force, is taking care of Shadow while Carberry recovers, ensuring he will have all the veterinary care he may need.
The organization has also helped Carberry and Shadow relocate to a safe place to stay while they rebuild.
“Best friends stepped up and stepped in and started taking care of Shadow for me,” Carberry said in a video for the organization.
“By … taking care of him, you’re taking care of me.”
“I don’t care about my stuff,” she added. “I just care about [Shadow].”
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Featured Image: Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society
