As several wildfires burn across Colorado, one non-profit’s evacuation tool is back in the spotlight as they attempt to bring assistance to people who may need help evacuating their animals.
Denver7 shared the resource, HorseAlert, in 2024, when the website first launched and was put to use during the Stone Canyon and Alexander Mountain fires.
Those behind the website describe it as an “Uber” for equine animals including horses, donkeys and mules.
“It connects people who need to be evacuated, need help evacuating their horses, with volunteer drivers who have signed up to say: we are there, we can be there for you,” said Colorado Horse Rescue CEO, Katherine Gregory.
“It will text the closest drivers and then it will only assign enough drivers to get the number of horses that that person has,” Gregory explained.
The volunteer trailer drivers would then help transport the animals to evacuation fairgrounds in the specific area.
It was an experience Christine Anderson didn’t think she’d have.
“I think it was like 12 or 1o'clock in the morning, and I, we were kind of in shock, even though we know fire is a real probability here, it's still very shocking to like wake to multiple calls about leaving,” Anderson recalled.
Anderson evacuated during the 2024 Quarry fire and was left trying to figure out not only how to evacuate her and her family, but also their animals.
She said she signed up for HorseAlert “on a whim,” noting she saw it on Facebook.
“I went ahead and put in my information, asking, requesting assistance, and again, that must have been one or 2 o'clock in the morning, and I had no idea, like, who's up at that time,” she said.
Someone from Longmont eventually reached out a few hours later and helped her evacuate her two donkeys Reggie and Beau.
“If nobody came to help us, we would have to let our animals go, which is a terrible thing to have to think about," she said.
An emotional Anderson shared how grateful she was for the help during that emergency.
“Animal control would have helped us evacuate, but we didn't have to use them, and we didn't have to wait to be one of the people in line for that, because this wonderful person from Longmont came and moved our animals for us and took us to the fairgrounds,” she said.
“If the fire had been more pressing, and animal control hadn't been able to get to us. We would have had to walk away and leave our donkeys here with the gates open, or cutting the fence in certain areas, and hoping for the best,” she added.
That sense of relief is something Anderson wants people who may be in the same situation as she was two years ago to feel.
"Obviously I became very emotional about it two years later. I'm still incredibly emotional about the kindness that people just offered us during that time," she said.
But Gregory says right now there needs to be more exposure for the resource in the areas currently impacted by wildfires to get this resource to those who may need it. The service has the most people signed up in areas across the front range like Boulder, Larimer, Jefferson and Weld County, according to Gregory.
“What we're trying to do is get the message out to more rural communities, and especially those communities that don't have large animal response teams that can help,” she emphasized.
Colorado Horse Rescue is calling on community members to sign up for the website to help bring relief to people in the impacted areas.
“They're going to rely on people helping people, neighbors helping neighbors, horse people helping horse people,” she added.
The impact of helping Anderson and her animals sticks with Gregory.
“Hearing the emotion in Christine's voice and knowing that we could provide a tool to help keep her family, her donkeys safe. It's why we do this, it's to keep each and every horse giving them and donkey and mule a safe solution, and keep them with their families if we can,” Gregory said.
In addition to HorseAlert, Gregory says Colorado Horse Rescue is also in contact with staff running the fairgrounds in Pueblo County to see if they can provide any resources.
Gregory says since May of 2026, 690 more horses have been registered through the website and 60 more drivers have signed up to volunteer to help transport animals.
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