“They’re definitely pets,” said Maggard. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth the work to help out people and help the animals as the same time.”
Maggard currently has around 200 pets, ranging from pigs to lambs to emus to alpacas. Gingersnap is entering its fourth year as a registered nonprofit. At its peak, it fit over 300 retired farm animals.
“We only rescue farm animals, so we can’t do cats, dogs, exotic animals or wildlife,” said Maggard. “They’re never going to be slaughtered, and if we do rehome them, we always find them homes as pets or farm animals.”
Maggard never planned on starting a rescue ranch. Her and her family started Gingersnap as a goat milk ranch in 2015, during which they raised herds of goat, sheep and cows.
They began welcoming in some disowned farm animals as well, and in only three years, the ranch grew to more than 100 animals.
Some animals considered unfit for auction, including this sheep who lost its ears to frostbite due to negligence, live out their lives at the rescue ranch.
Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
A 2018 wildfire changed everything.
“There was a dragging muffler on a car, and the fire started on I-25, and it hit us in about eight minutes,” said Maggard.
The dry, dead land surrounding the ranch ignited rapidly, and strong eastern winds helped the blaze spread miles in only minutes.
Maggard and her husband quickly loaded their two children, as well as about sixty of their animals, into their truck. They plowed through multiple barbed wire fences in their escape, and with the help of fire officials, they were all – people and animals – able to evacuate safely.
The fire, often referred to as the 2018 117 Fire, razed an estimated 41,000 acres of land and twenty-four homes between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, according to reports from the El Paso County Sheriff’s office.
It was believed to have been ignited by a car dragging its muffler down I-25. While the origins of the fire may sound like a freak accident, dragging mufflers are a regular culprit of human-related wildfire starters every year.
Kathy Hook, a Fire and Life Safety educator with the Colorado Springs Fire Department, knows better than anyone that wildfires and humans have an incendiary relationship.
The Dr. Lester L. Williams Fire Museum features an array of Colorado Springs Fire Department relics, as well as helpful information about fire safety.
Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
“The most common answer that we give for what’s the cause of most wildfires, it’s three things: men, women and children,” said Hook. “Most wildfires are, in fact, started by people.”
Around 85% of wildfires in the United States are started by humans, according to 2017 U.S. Forest Service Research Data cited by the National Park Service.
Unattended or unextinguished campfires, discarded cigarette butts and equipment malfunctions are a few of the ways humans might unintentionally light a blaze.
The number of wildfires and the extent of their damage has been gradually increasing over the past few decades, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Drought and lengthening dry seasons spurred by changes in climate have contributed to the power and persistence of wildfires as well, putting many in drier parts of the country and state at increased risk.
“Wildfire season in the state of Colorado is January 1st through December 31st,” said Hook. “We have the combination of a very dry climate with wind. We’re really always at the risk of having a wildfire.”
Hook broke down the city of Colorado Springs into two zones: the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI, pronounced “wooey”) and the Prairie Urban Interface (PUI, affectionately pronounced “pooey”).
The WUI refers to the city west of I-25. Hook noted that this is zone is actually at a higher risk than area on the east side of town due to the high winds and spaces that are both prone to igniting and can be difficult to mitigate.
The WUI and the PUI are both at risk to wildfire thanks to high winds and dry climates.
Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
While all should leave the actual extinguishing of fires to the professionals, there is much individuals can do to both prevent and mitigate fires.
“Prevention personally… is really being cognizant of what kind of conditions we’re in. [Fire warnings] are not random from the fire department. They are scientifically determined,” said Hook.
Hook also underlined fully putting out any campfires (enough so that one could run a hand over the ashes), as well as properly disposing of smoking materials.
In terms of mitigation, homeowners can do simple things such as cleaning out gutters, cleaning up trash and raking leaves in the yard, all practices that the fire department calls “home hardening” and creating a “defensible space.”
“Mitigation doesn’t mean completely eliminate the risk, but you can really give your home, your structures, a lot better chance if you clean up around the area…” said Hook.
When Maggard eventually returned to the ranch with her children and surviving animals, they discovered that nearly everything they had built had been reduced to rubble. Firefighters had been able to protect their home, the last thing still standing on their once full and fertile land.
“Everything that we had spent years building, it was just gone in minutes,” said Maggard. “It was devastating.”
However, Maggard continued receiving calls about displaced farm and ranch animals needing a home. This inspired her to start a new ranch, the Gingersnap Rescue Ranch, which is fully dedicated to housing and placing farm and ranch animals.
Her extended family now includes a disabled cow wounded by dog attacks, an earless goat, a diabetic horse and an obese donkey.
“You’ve always got animals around you nonstop, so it’s a just a good feeling that they’re all happy and loving,” said Maggard.
Spike, a goat with irregular horns after being improperly disbudded, insisted on joining our interview.
Photo: Chase McCleary, Rocky Mountain PBS
Maggard’s inspirational story of resiliency in the face of wildfire disaster, made possible —as Maggard is the first to say —by the efforts of firefighters who were able to respond to the fire.
Hook emphasized that preparation not only benefits oneself, but helps first responders as well. Understanding emergency evacuation routes saved the Maggards and having such protocols should be top of the list for all families.
“It makes a big difference, certainly for yourself, for your community, and of course, the firefighters,” said Hook. “Let’s help them out. Let’s help each other in the event of a wildfire in our community.”
For more information about wildfire prevention and awareness in Colorado Springs, visit www.coswildfireready.org.
Chase McCleary is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. Chasemccleary@rmpbs.org.
