The goats were part of a herd of 175, the majority of which were trucked out of the canyon last Tuesday, shortly after the blaze erupted.
By Tuesday night, Lorraine Argo, owner of Brush Goats 4 Hire, who has rented the goats to the Mission Canyon Association on a number of occasions, said 35 goats remained in the canyon.
When the blaze appeared to be subsiding Wednesday morning, she said the decision was made to place electric fencing around the remaining goats and leave them in place.
But by early afternoon, shortly after setting up the fence, the winds picked up and within minutes flaming embers were blowing into the area.
Rather than attempt to drive out of the canyon, pick up a trailer and return, Argo said she and her employees decided to load as many of the animals as they could into the one SUV and leave.
“The flames actually came within 3 feet of the pen while we were loading up,” she said. “You literally had minutes, you didn’t have hours to make a decision.”
Argo compared the goats to deer, saying they resist being captured. Even so, she said five goats were rounded up, the maximum amount that would fit in the car.
“You just had to grab the ones that were closest to you,” Argo said.
The 30 remaining goats were left to fend for themselves. Argo said the carcasses of some of the animals have been found, but many have not.
She hopes someone will soon find them alive in their backyard, but so far, she hasn’t received any calls.
While the story of the goats is tragic, that they were there in the first place is an example how many residents in the Mission Canyon area have taken an aggressive role in diminishing the fire risks in the fuel-rich canyon.
In the last few years the Mission Canyon Association, which was founded in large part to ensure adequate fire protection for the area, has secured three state fire safety grants totaling $213,000.
The association has spent upwards of $30,000 on goats, with 50 percent of the funding going toward manual brush clearing.
Argo said goats, with their small hooves, are able to clear brush on steep slopes that humans struggle with.
According to association president Tim Steele, whose house on Holly Road was destroyed, the most recent fire safety goal was to create a U-shaped buffer at the upper end of the canyon. This effort, executed by goats and humans, was well underway when the fire broke out.
By Steele’s count, 27 homes in Mission Canyon were destroyed. Still, he said the fire prevention efforts, such as encouraging residents to create defensible space around their homes and employing the goats, made a difference and saved many homes.
“I am quite confident it saved many homes in the canyon,” he said, adding that just before the fire, the association completed a brush reduction and burn program that accomplished many of its goals. “The upper part of the canyon is very singed, but the houses are there. That speaks for creating a safe haven for the fire department. The fire department can only protect these houses as long as they’re not going to kill themselves in the process of doing so.”
While many homes in the area were burned, the one belonging to Ray Smith, an association board member, was mostly spared.
Smith, like many Mission Canyon residents, has actively worked to spur the risk of fire danger in the canyon for years. Much of this effort has been aimed at clearing brush around his home, ensuring that when the time came, firefighters would have enough room to work.
Before Smith drove away from his home Tuesday evening, he hooked a 2-inch hose to the water main and left it lying on the ground.
Sometime on Wednesday afternoon, when the fire blew out of control and charged into Mission Canyon, the flames were at Smith’s front door: in fact, they were burning his garage.
At some point, firefighters arrived and used the hose Smith left behind to extinguish the flames.
During the firefight the heat from the flames grew so intense the firefighters were forced to take refuge in the home, but the front door was locked.
Smith said he returned home to find his garage burned. The only damage to the main house was a broken window.
“I talked to the firefighter who actually stood here,” Smith said. He “had to break a window and jump inside to save himself. These guys go above and beyond.
“He was from the Los Angeles Fire Department, Engine 37. I got to shake his hand and I wanted to cry.”