USA: Steffen Peters forced to evacuate horses due to wildfire

14 May 2014

A 700-acre California wildfire that erupted on the morning of May 13 has caused more than 20,000 homes to be evacuated in north San Diego County including many horse farms such as Steffen and Shannon Peters’ Arroyo Del Mar facility.

The Peterses joined with staff, other trainers and friends to move 65 horses to the Del Mar racetrack, a move they’ve performed once before in 2007 due to wildfires.

“Steffen and I are still at home,” said Shannon on Tuesday night. “We’ve packed up some stuff, and we’re watching the news, but we’re going to stay as long as we can. We’re fighting the fire as best we can, having the farm staff watering down the property. That way, if we do get embers, hopefully they won’t spark anything.”

They began moving horses before the evacuation orders came because they could see the flames and smoke from their home.

The blaze erupted for unknown reasons about 10:40 a.m. As of Tuesday evening, it was less than 5 percent contained.

Source: chronofhorse