The mountains east of San Diego are ablaze with out-of-control wildfires in October and November. (Photo courtesy of Amy Davis and www.textamerica.com.)

AT 2 A.M. on Oct. 26, Nancy Baar sat up in bed and looked out her window. The Cuyamaca Mountains rising up behind her Spanish-style home in Descanso, Calif., had never looked so spectacular. They were on fire.

"I knew it had only one more ridge to come over, and then it would just be the canyon between me and the fire," said Baar.

For two days Baar had nervously watched the Cedar Fire, the largest of 10 that burned out of control in southern California last year east of San Diego, advance closer. A bird breeder and part-time rescuer for 25 years, Baar kept 71 birds on her four-acre property. She also had two dogs, a miniature horse and pot-bellied pig. But Baar figured that as long as she remained vigilant, she would have plenty of time to evacuate. She had even bought 30 spare pillowcases as emergency bird carriers.

As another day passed, conflicting reports kept Baar on edge. The radio said residents of Descanso should leave, but her closest neighbors, who lived a couple of miles down the winding road, told Baar they did not think it was necessary. That evening, Baar's phone line went dead, leaving her unable to communicate with her son. With the fire closer than ever, Baar did not go to bed that night.

'You have 10 minutes'
At around 3 a.m. on Oct. 27, Baar's neighbors knocked on her door to tell her they were evacuating. Baar had already put the dogs in her van; her neighbors helped her load the horse. Soon after, the police arrived with bullhorns. Baar was stunned to hear she had 10 minutes to pack up and go.

Frantic, she drove to the post office, where some of Descanso's 1700 residents had gathered, and begged for help with her birds.

"Someone told me, 'Animals don't count.' I said, 'I’m staying, even if I burn up.' Being alone, my animals are my family," recounts Baar.

Baar convinced a police officer to come to her house and help her put some of her birds in pillowcases, including Niko the hyacinth macaw; Bongo, Rica and Smokey, African greys; and Pebbles, a blue-and-gold macaw.

The officer hustled Bacon the pig into his patrol car, then ordered the heartbroken Baar to go. Time was running out. She would have to leave the rest of her birds behind.

Labor-intensive task
Unbeknownst to Baar, the officer radioed the South County Animal Shelter for help. At 4:30 a.m., the telephone woke animal control officer Darrell Hanson at his home 40 miles away in south San Diego. A lady needed help evacuating some exotic birds – could he drive out and take a look?

Hanson, who had already spent several long days rescuing pets from fire-threatened homes all over San Diego County, threw on some clothes and jumped into his truck to begin the hour-and-20-minute drive east to Descanso.

Niko the hyacinth macaw was treated to a trip inside a pillowcase when owner Nancy Baar had to flee a fire.

When he arrived at Baar's rural sandstone home, Hanson was shocked to see how close the fire was – no more than a quarter of a mile away now - and dismayed to see how many birds there were.

He counted over 40 scattered through the house and outside in a modular prefab building. "I could see how labor intensive this was going to be," he said.

Hanson called for backup then got to work. In his 15 years as an animal control officer he had rounded up emus, herded horses and tackled goats, but he had never had to catch a parrot before.

"I'm really not familiar with them. I had to walk into these cages with giant birds," he said. Hanson donned heavy "cat gloves" and threw a beach towel over the birds he could not get to step onto a perch. "They squawked and put up a fuss."

Hanson's colleagues, Lisa Worrick and Jennifer Green, arrived half an hour later and together the trio worked feverishly to save Nancy Baar's birds. Hanson feared it was a lost cause. He had seen other fires this close take over a home within a few minutes. "I figured we had another half hour, tops." Periodically a propane tank exploded nearby as the flames engulfed yet another property.

But Nancy Baar's birds – and the town of Descanso - got lucky. Thanks to firefighters' efforts and a change in the wind, the fire stalled. It took almost two hours, but officers Hanson, Worrick and Green finished the job. By the time they left Baar's house at 8 a.m., they had crammed three trucks with dog and cat kennels holding 44 birds from parakeets to macaws.

'I'll get food for you'
Low on gas, Baar took Interstate 8 east, the only direction left open, eight miles to Pine Valley, where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center at a high school gymnasium. There was hardly space for a pet dog among the tightly packed cots, much less 27 birds. Worse, Baar had brought no formula for the greenwing macaw and eclectus fledglings she was still hand feeding.

Once again, luck was on Baar's side. A sympathetic volunteer helped her find a locker and some cardboard boxes so she could at least release the birds from their stuffy pillowcases. Baar asked a National Guardsman to help her get food for the hungry babies.

"He said, 'I get off at six o'clock and I will go get you food. Even if I have to open something up, I'll get it for you.'", Baar remembers. "He came back at 8 o'clock with handfeeding formula."

For five days Baar's family had no idea whether she was safe. Baar herself did not know whether her house was still standing or if the rest of her birds were alive.

Making room for orphans
Baar's birds were in good hands. After leaving her house, animal control officers Hanson, Worrick and Green drove straight to a parking lot in San Diego where they were met by volunteers from the Parrot Rehabilitation Society, a local bird rescue organization.

PRS member Barbara Pake, who runs the Ortwin hardware store in San Diego, took in 13 of the displaced birds, including eclectuses, Moluccan cockatoos, King parrots, and three macaws.

Guy Mock, retired from the Navy, and his wife, Adrianne Mock, a marine biologist who teaches at the San Diego Floating Marine Classroom, took the remaining 31 birds. Those included two pairs of double-yellow headed Amazons, a pair of greenwing macaws, two scarlet macaws, two medium sulphur-crested cockatoos, conures, African greys and six toco toucans.

The Mocks, who have five large birds of their own, emptied their garage to accommodate their feathered guests. "Guy put his '59 MGA and motorcycle on the front lawn," said Adrianne. "He wouldn’t do that for me."

For the next several weeks Pake and the Mocks spent all their spare time feeding and cleaning up after the birds and playing with them. Neighbors and area businesses donated food, cages and dishes. "If you have to be anywhere for a disaster, San Diego is the place to be," said Adrianne.

Aside from being wary of their new surroundings, the birds showed no ill effects from their ordeal. "They were in beautiful condition, not sick from the fire at all," said Pake.

There was just one problem. No one knew who they belonged to.

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