SANTA ROSA, Calif. — As around 2,000 evacuees rushed to get out of Geyserville under mandatory orders due to the looming Kincade Fire, many people stopped at evacuation centers and hotels along the route out of the area.
“Get out, get out, get out, get out, don’t think about it. I didn’t even pack my bags, I left most of my stuff up there," said James Howard.
Howard showed off his cat, Angela, as he was staying at the Santa Rosa Veteran's Memorial shelter.
“I threw my cat in the car and I just took off," he said.
Howard said he wasn’t taking any chances after seeing how many of his friends were impacted by the Tubbs Fire in 2017.
“I had a friend that was evacuated from a senior center. I had a friend who lost everything up in Ukiah, she lost her animals and her house. So, I wasn’t going to fool around with it," he said.
So, Howard left the second he got the alert.
"I didn’t bother to top off. I actually thought I had 100 miles worth of gas, a quarter of a tank. I figured wrong, so I got out to the hills and I got into Santa Rosa and right by the junior college I ran out of gas," he said.
RELATED:
A Good Samaritan helped Howard get gas before he went to the Red Cross shelter.
"I know how fast a fire can go. I really didn’t even wait to hear until the end of the flash, I just got out," he said.
While he was evacuating, Becky Bartling, the CEO of the Sonoma County Fairgrounds woke up to a call around midnight to go prepare the staples to take in large animals that had to be evacuated too.
“It was very organized because most of these people have probably done this before. [In] 2017 we had the entire county...on fire and that incorporated pretty much all of the areas," Bartling said.
Back in 2017, Bartling said they held about 500 animals. On Thursday afternoon, Bartling said they only had about 50 come through so far, most were horses.
“We have two African cranes, which we’ve never had before. We’ve got a potbelly pig, a miniature donkey, two mules, two emus and an alpaca...and the horses," she said.
But they plan to stay open through the night to take as many as needed.
“I think we’ll be fine with the number of staples we have open and certainly we’ll be open for as long as we need to," she said.
The Healdsburg Community Center is open as an overnight shelter for any evacuees needing a place to stay.
Continue the conversation with Lena on Facebook.
FREE ABC10 APP:
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for ABC10's Daily Blend Newsletter