Wildfire forces an animal sanctuary in Granbury to evacuate its animals

An animal shelter in Granbury was forced to evacuate its animals as a nearby wildfire began to spread dangerously close on Monday afternoon.

Around 1:30 p.m. Monday, the Second Chance Farm located at 1458 East U.S. Hwy 377 posted to its Facebook page that a fire had grown to five acres and was just one road away from its facilities in Granbury.

The blaze started on Knox Street at the Knox Ranch, between Tolar and Granbury, and spread to 60 acres. It was about 50 percent contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

The outskirts of the Knox Ranch sits next to the edge of the Second Chance Farm property, which covers about 70 acres, according to Liana Oechsle, a volunteer at Second Chance Farm.

“We have close to 75 dogs and about 25 chickens, goats, ducks, cows and horses to evacuate,” said Oechsle. “Our crippled ram, Ares, who’s been featured on National Geographic before, also got out safely.”

The safe rescue of the animals was due largely in part to their friends on social media, said Oechsle.

“The response was amazing,” said Oechsle. “We had maybe 100 people show up in cars and about 30 something people show up with trailers.”

Around 5:30 p.m., Second Chance Farm reported that the dogs were evacuated and most of the livestock was safe.

As first responders continued to battle the wildfire, the staff felt that it was safe enough to return to the animal shelter later Monday night.

“I’ve never left,” Oechsle said.

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Wildfire forces an animal sanctuary in Granbury to evacuate its animals."