Carr Fire

ABC7 helps fire evacuee reunite with horse found in Carr Fire burn area

ByEric Thomas KGO logo

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Happy ending for horse running free in Carr Fire burn zone

There's a happy ending for a horse that evaded capture in the Carr Fire burn zone in Redding. Elli has now been reunited with her owner.

REDDING, Calif. (KGO) -- Not all evacuees from the Carr Fire have been allowed to return home, but some have been reunited with the animals they had to leave behind.

Here's the story of one woman who found out her beloved horse was still alive thanks to ABC7.

You can't say everything is back to normal for Teri Fox of Redding and her 3-year-old mare, Elli. "She's got a puncture wound here and a puncture and then some lacerations right there," Fox said.

But there are no burns, even though she was running loose in the thick of the Carr Fire.

Not all evacuees from the Carr Fire have been allowed to return home, but some have been reunited with the animals they had to leave behind. Here's the story of one woman who found out her beloved horse was still alive, thanks to ABC7.

Elli is one of three formerly wild horses that Fox was trying to evacuate by trailer as the flames closed in. But Elli refused to get in.

"I had to turn my back on her and make a hard decision to leave her there," Fox said.

There were rumors that Elli had been spotted in various areas, but nothing solid until someone told her to look at video from ABC7's Laura Anthony and Randy Davis of fire crews trying to calm a runaway horse.

VIDEO: Group tries to corral horse running free in Carr Fire area

Crews worked to corral a horse that was running free in the Carr Fire burn area. They almost had her, but then she ran off.

"It's gotta be her, it looks just like her," Fox said.

But Elli got away. Later, someone who Fox thinks was animal control located Elli and reunited them.

It's not all over yet.

Fox's home survived but it's still in the evacuation zone. However, she is staying with a new friend, Joni Maggini, who is putting up her horses and her family until they can go home.

"I've made a wonderful new friend in Teri. We've already made plans to go riding together after this is all over," Maggini said.

In addition to Fox's horses, Maggini has taken in other animals, including four baby goats, 30 chickens and two pot-bellied pigs

"These people were strangers and they just opened up their homes and said come on in," Fox said.

And the evacuees are grateful and hoping to help out in return one day, without the fire as the incentive.

Get the latest on the Carr Fire here, the Complex Fire here and the latest on wildfires across California here.

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