The concept of building a small animal evacuation trailer came to Amy Runyon after the devastating Cedar Fire in the fall of 2003. The idea was due, in part, to the Runyon’s love of exotic birds and their involvement with Amateur (Ham) Radio. As many people learned during the Cedar Fire, cell phones usually stop working within an hour of a major emergency. The cell system quickly jams up with too many people trying to make calls at the same time, and the problem worsens when fires destroy cell towers. Amy and Terry Runyon, both licensed Amateur Radio Operators, were able to keep in communication during the fire emergency using Ham Radios.

Terry is a volunteer with the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), an organization which provides backup radio communication services for the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. During the Cedar Fire, Terry was busy passing radio messages from the 911 dispatchers to multiple agencies involved in the fire effort. One of those agencies was the Animal Rescue Reserve (ARR) a unit of the San Diego Humane Society which is trained and authorized to go behind fire lines to evacuate horses, livestock and household pets. It became apparent to the Runyons that Animal Rescue Reserve only had horse trailers for moving large animals and the Humane Society had just a couple of small trucks for moving small animals. Nothing existed for evacuating a large group of small animals, particularly birds.

At that time, Amy was on the board of the local exotic bird club, the North County Aviculturists (NCA). Concerned about the lack of equipment suitable for the evacuation of birds and other small animals, Amy spoke with other members of the club. Answering her plea, Lifetime Members Dick and Shirley Foults immediately donated 42 stainless steel cages and their transport racks, then later donated an additional 20+ small animal cages and carriers, all to be used for transporting animals in an emergency.

Terry and Amy purchased a flatbed trailer as the base for the Animal Evacuation Trailer. With assistance from other NCA members, they added the sides, roof, ramp, and security door. The Runyons donated and installed 6 meter, 2 meter, 220, and 440 Ham radios that are powered by a car battery and augmented by a solar panel installed on the roof of the trailer. They purchased a pickup truck to pull the trailer, and equipped it with Ham radios that cover from 80 meters to 1.3ghz.

During the wild fires in 2007 the Runyons used the trailer to evacuate over 100 exotic birds from a North County location. Shortly after the 2007 fires Terry joined Animal Rescue Reserve and is receiving the training that the ARR requires.

The Runyon Animal Evacuation Trailer is available to anyone in Southern California. If you would like more information or need us in an emergency contact:
Terry’s pager: 760-293-8733
Send an Email to Terry’s pager: 7602938733@archwireless.net
Terry’s cell phone: 760-443-3726