(fire crackling) (gentle guitar music) (siren wailing) - Wildfires in Northern California have been getting worse every year.

With the effects of climate change, the whole area is drying out.

And every community seems to take it's turn.

(dramatic guitar music) (fire roaring) (siren wailing) On August 4th, the Dixie Fire reached Greenville.

It had already burned 300,000 acres of California forest and tore its way through the town in less than a half an hour, leaving 1,000 residents displaced, including one of my own family.

(pensive guitar music) With a fire like this, it's hard to imagine anything could survive.

(dramatic music) (tire screeching) Damn!

Whew!

That was close.

Well, there's some bears out here.

(dramatic music) (machine beeping) These wildfires move lightning fast.

Residents usually have minutes to evacuate so there's always gonna be pets left behind.

And out here, plenty of wild animals as well.

Whoa, look at all the deer.

Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of wildlife that might be forced into the town because all the habitat around is all burned up.

(dramatic music) Thankfully, whenever critters and fire are in the equation, there's one guy you can count on.

Howdy.

Keeping it excited.

Oh, good Lord, you're not kidding it's dripping.

- We got a little poop sandwich going on here.

I pulled up there and I looked around, soon as I stepped outta the truck, I could smell gas.

I'm like, "That's not good."

- Shannon and I have been working together for years.

I started my rescue career as his camera guy, filming him saving cats in the paradise fire in 2018.

It was our idea back then to attach an infrared scope to my drum.

And we've been hitting disaster zones together ever since.

He's one of the best cat rescuers in the business, and a punctured gas tank certainly isn't going to slow him down.

- I think what we could probably do, I'm just trying to figure out how to salvage the rest of the night.

- [Doug] How many houses are here and how many burned?

- I think over 100 burned.

This population is like 1,200 but over 100 houses are gone and then obviously the whole downtown is smoked.

So, didn't know what you wanted to do but there's no point in following us in.

- I'm going to poke around here and wait for you and then.

- Okay, all right.

I'll give you a call when we headed back inbound.

- Okay.

Sweet.

Thank you.

(mellow guitar music) - I would launch here and then run that 500 mile stretch.

You'll run outta houses when it makes the curve right where my truck broke down and then there's no more houses.

- Oh, okay.

- It's that time, it's midnight.

Cats are starting to come out, the weather's mild, but that'd be cool if you actually saw something.

(drone engine revving) Drone is airborne.

Thermal drone is airborne.

This is Douglas Throne's world famous animal rescuing drone thermal extraordinaire and we are employing it tonight in the burn zone in Greenville, in the Dixie fire.

(mellow guitar music) Oh my God, that is astounding.

Oh, you got the spot on.

Damn, that light is bright.

- Yeah.

- [Shannon] That is so clear, it almost looks like daylight.

That's insane.

He was kind of down on that lower right part.

Hope he's on the move.

- [Doug] Oh, its two.

See?

- [Shannon] Those are foxes.

Look at 'em running across the road.

See their tails?

They all walk differently.

Their gait is different.

- [Doug] They're fighting.

- [Shannon] They're fighting.

They're duking it out.

Did you see how fast they moved?

- Yeah.

- [Shannon] They were blazing.

I never seen anything like that in my life.

- [Doug] Yeah, look at them go, chasing each other.

- [Shannon] Can you go any closer?

I wanna see.

(machine beeping) - [Doug] Get back, the battery's low.

- [Shannon] Oh, you gotta come back?

Just when the action was getting good.

- [Doug] I know.

- Man, that thing is bright.

Holy moly.

- It's good to see there's some wildlife still out here.

These foxes have plenty of fight left in them but I know the animals in need can't be far away.

(mellow guitar music) (birds chirping) It's one thing to see these disasters on the news and read the headlines, but actually walking down streets like this, it's almost surreal.

And this fire hit closer to home than most.

So we're standing at my son's grandma's house that just recently burned down in the Greenville fire.

He thought it was a really cool spot out there in the mountains.

He said it was a cool little community out here and I'd always wanted to come out here.

It's a shame this is the way I first get to see it.

It's hard to imagine 'cause there's just so little of it left.

It's kind of eerie as I look at it 'cause I know that in the pile of rubble here, there'd be pictures of my son in there.

Fortunately Tristan's grandma was able to evacuate with the other residents of Greenville, but the animals here had nowhere to go.

(pensive guitar music) (machine beeping) - This is two nights ago.

He's in rough shape.

This is a really clear image of him.

Look at his ears, it's just whiskers gone, ears burned.

See how his coat looks all funny?

- [Doug] Yeah, 'cause it's singed.

- His coat is singed.

The day after they granted access I was here.

A couple nights in I located a badly burned fox on one of my cameras.

I was working at an address for a cat that was missing and an owner wanted found, and that's also the same address the fox was.

The owner's elderly and shell shocked in losing her home.

Her daughter showed pictures to her of the cats, those two couple cats and she's uncertain but she thinks pretty certain that black and white one that was under the drop trap is her cat named Whiskers.

So I think we're gonna actually set the drop trap up, set it up and get one of them.

That's what I got on deck for tonight.

When domestic cats are lost in a outdoor environment, they will not just wander off and go for miles in a wilderness.

Always, if there is a human element present there, they will seek it out.

They know of what a building means.

A building means there's people and people means safety, it means shelter and it means food.

Let's just do one bowl with kibble and then the thing of food.

When this triggers, listen to it.

It gives about a quarter of a second warning.

Some cats are so fast, a quarter second's all they need they just squirt out the side and they're gone.

Done.

But these cats that I've seen here, the couple that are eating under there, they seem pretty comfortable.

So I said, let's give it a shot.

So the bottom line is, the cat goes in.

We let 'em put their head down and start eating and I'll just count to five and that's it.

So let's get this finished up and then we're ready to go.

Keep your phone available.

If we got action, we got a cat coming in, I'm gonna say we got one coming in.

If he goes under and starts feeding we'll determine if it's the correct cat.

If it is, you're not gonna get any warning once he goes under.

When he goes under and feeds and it's him, we're just gonna hit it and go.

- [Doug] Okay.

How long does it usually take?

- Five minutes to 12 hours.

- [Doug] Good, nice window.

- Straight back.

Okay, curl it around this way.

Keep going.

(pensive music) We got a cat, but he's not the one we're looking for.

Can you see, he's looking right over at us.

(indistinct chattering) Something's got his attention.

Straight out in that field, there's bunch of deer out there.

When he shows up, I'm gonna record him on the thermal scope as you drop it on him.

Here he is.

(pensive music) His head is down.

Hit it anytime you want.

Hit it anytime.

He's in it.

Hey, buddy.

It's okay.

You're okay.

You're okay little one.

It's okay.

You're okay.

Okay, settle down.

- [Doug] Got him, huh?

- [Shannon] We got him.

- [Doug] Nice.

- Hey little one.

You okay?

Hey buddy.

Do you see how filthy he is?

They're all living in this stuff, they're always filthy.

They're walking in toxic ash and sometimes they get sick from it.

How did they do it?

How did they pull it off?

There's no safe zone and somehow they find a spot.

They just find a place, it's mind boggling.

And I tell people if you bet against a cat, you're likely to lose, don't do it.

We'll get him back, decompress him.

If he's tame, we'll know it.

I'm pretty sure we'll hold him when we get back to the base camp later on, but I think our work here is done.

(dramatic guitar music) (birds chirping) Hey sweetie, you're doing okay pumpkin?

Real quiet, no sudden movements.

It's okay.

He hasn't made a sound.

As you can see with the line he's allowing physical contact, he's letting us touch him.

So every cat is different.

Oftentimes a cat is traumatized and those behaviors can be mistaken for a feral animal.

And a lot of folks don't understand that, that they need time to decompress.

And this cat is clearly not feral.

There's no way he's feral, I mean, a feral cat would rip your face right off, he'd never allow that.

So that's our assessment of this kitty.

The owner has received a picture and thinks that very well could be one of her missing kitties, so we're gonna rendezvous with the owners this afternoon.

- While Shannon works on reuniting this guy, I'm driving back in the town to look for the burned fox he found on his trail cam.

(mellow guitar music) We're headed out to meet a guy that the local sheriff told us about.

A guy named Van that is a wildlife tracker and wildlife expert in the area.

So it would be great to talk with him, get some tips about the local wildlife here and see if he might be able to help us.

- [GPS Voice] Turn left onto Carrie street, then turn right onto Thompson street.

Arrive at Taylorsville.

- [Doug] Hey there.

- How you doing?

- [Doug] You gotta be Van.

- Yep, how are you?

- Hey, nice to meet you.

- Pleased to meet you.

- Hopefully you can help us find where the wild animals might be or what's left of them.

- Oh yeah, what's left of them.

A lot of these poor critters got burned up.

I was telling them I just found a little fox down the road here.

I just seen one in the.

It's about five miles from here.

10 minutes away, maybe.

And I poured a little bit of Gatorade on him trying to get him to drink something then he started licking his nose a little bit but he's about had it.

We could find him, though.

He's not very far away.

Do you wanna run out there and look?

- [Doug] Oh, yeah.

So we just follow you in your truck?

- Yeah, all right.

- [Doug] Okay.

(mellow guitar music) - [Van] He went down in them bushes but he'll be right here.

- Did he look like he was burned, or?

- Yeah, he's been burned.

Like I said, right there is where I last seen him and he could be laying right here somewhere.

He's not gonna go very far, he's burnt pretty bad.

(pensive guitar music) (leaves rustling) He can't be too far away.

There he is, right there.

- You see him?

- He's just curled up, laying down right there.

See him right over there?

- [Doug] Oh, yeah.

His whisker are all singed and stuff.

- [Van] And his whole mouth has been burned.

He's not gonna fight you at all.

- [Doug] Oh, poor little guy.

In all my rescue work, I've never picked up an animal with such little resistance.

This fox is hanging on by a thread.

- Wonder if he'd take a drink of this somehow, if we could give him a little drink.

I know buddy, will you drink some of that?

You don't even want to try to take it.

He's not even half grown.

- He's like a baby one, huh?

- [Van] Yeah, he's not very big.

Born this spring.

- [Doug] His fur all burned.

- [Van] He's still breathing.

If we could- - Yeah.

- [Van] Get some water down him.

Sure not gonna hurt him any.

- [Doug] No.

- [Van] His eyes are all matted.

Don't wanna open his mouth.

- [Doug] Oh, he swallowed a little.

- [Van] Come on.

Between his teeth.

- [Doug] Oh, he's swallowing now.

- [Van] He's blinking a little bit.

- [Doug] Yeah, he's swallowing now too.

- Yeah.

If we get some liquids in him, maybe he'll come around.

I don't know.

- Yeah, he could, you never know.

- Might be too far gone.

- [Doug] Hang in there, buddy.

Hang in there.

(phone ringing) - [Shannon] Doug, I'm on the phone with someone who's gonna get us in touch with the UC Davis veterinary emergency response team.

I think it's there at Quinky somewhere.

I'm just trying to get an address, gimme a minute.

Can you describe his condition, Doug?

- [Doug] Yeah, his eyes are all gummed up and he's super scrawny.

- [Shannon] Is he breathing okay?

- [Doug] He's breathing kind of slowly.

- [Shannon] Okay, that's not good.

They have a high respiratory rate.

All right, hang on.

I'm about to get a response.

She says, "You can be triaged here at Plymouth animal services."

"We will connect with wildlife team at UC Davis."

(dramatic music) - [Vet] I don't know if you've heard my findings, but he's really dehydrated.

- [Doug] Yeah.

- [Vet] Very anemic looking.

All of the mucosal membranes were very pale.

Pretty burned on the paws.

Can't really do a full evaluation of eyes 'cause they're so crusted shut, but we're what I'm gonna try and do is just kind of stabilize him a little bit so that he's stronger so that you can transport him to a dedicated wildlife facility.

Right now he's pretty weak and so we wanna stabilize that.

- [Doug] Okay.

- [Vet] I wanna give him some Dextrose, give him some sugar in his system and then give him some fluids also.

- Okay, all right.

Awesome, thank you.

Thank you so much for all your help, both of you.

- Good luck.

- [Doug] We'll keep you posted.

(dramatic music) This fox wasn't gonna make it another night out in the wild.

At least now she's got a fighting chance.

(dramatic music) - [Vet 2] Hello.

- Hello there.

(indistinct chattering) So we just dropped the fox off with a vet and they're gonna look him over and take care of him and hopefully there's enough willpower in it to hang in there and with the love and care that it's getting now, it's gonna do all right and be back out in the wild soon.

(machine beeping) (pensive music) - Hi.

- Hey.

- It's nice to meet you.

- Yeah, I'm Jamie.

Thanks for bringing our little fox friend.

It was perfect that you were able to bring her so I'm really grateful.

- [Doug] Yeah, thanks for treating her.

- [Jamie] Yeah well, come take a look.

She looks a lot better.

- [Doug] Oh, yeah.

- [Jamie] Still pretty sick, but doing a lot better.

(machine beeping) - [Vet 3] Oh, you did it.

- Scared little face.

Oh, my baby.

My name is Jamie Peyton.

I'm a veterinarian and I am a co-lead for the Wildlife Disaster Network.

In about 2017, I was lucky enough to be involved with the first adult bear that we treated for burns, and that was really the starting point of recognizing that with these increasing mega fires and other disasters around the world, that there was a need for more of this network approach to not only find these animals but also to improve the medicine and care for them.

- [Doug] How is she looking compared to when you first saw her?

- Overall, a lot better.

I mean, she was on death's door when she came in.

So much better, but she's still not out of the woods by any means, because it took so many days for her to be starving to that extent, but she's definitely making improvements and that's all we can hope for.

You know, her life is important, it matters.

You may not be able to save them all but hopefully can save this one fox and make a difference and learn from it to apply to other species including endangered and threatened species.

So what does the healing?

They do.

I just do the support, right?

So I'm gonna do topicals that help reduce infection and create a nice wound environment for it to heal.

So we put the honey on there so that it will go into any other tracks on the toes, if there's bone exposure.

And then we're gonna take this, which is a smaller particulate silver that's made into a little film.

And what's neat about it is it will adhere over time and then it will break down.

So when you take off the bandage in three to four days, it won't be there anymore, it'll have dissolved.

Silver is actually really helpful to wounds to create a nice environment where bacteria can't live.

(Jamie chuckling) That's always the goal.

I know, you're almost done.

I'm kind of glad she doesn't like my medication as much today because it kind of means she's feeling a little better.

When she arrived, she was in critical condition and you know, the first night was really concerning, but I started syringe feeding her and she picked up her head and was like, oh thanks.

And that little spark, that's what we look for, because that tells me that she may not make it but she wants to make it.

And that's what I love about animals is that they are survivors and when they have that sparkle, that little spark of life, it just makes us work harder.

And I think she's definitely shown she's a survivor.

- The work they're doing is unbelievable.

So it just worked out for the fox that some of the best care that you can get in the world is actually right here.

I'm beyond super appreciative of the fact that they're saving so many wild animals that frequently get forgotten.

(thunder rolling) What I was seeing on the news was a monster size tornado had hit.

In this December cold, cats are going to be bedded down in these crushed houses.

It's a race against the clock to rescue them before the bulldozer has finished their demolition.