MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A group of volunteers that has played a key role in rescuing pets and livestock from the county’s wildland fires will meet for a training this weekend, with community members interested in joining their ranks invited to attend.

Lake Evacuation & Animal Protection, or LEAP, will hold its annual meeting and training from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, at South Lake County Fire Protection District’s Station 60, 21095 Highway 175 in Middletown.

Nehemiah White, deputy director of Lake County Animal Care and Control and LEAP’s coordinator, said the event is both a refresher training for current volunteers and an introduction for those interested in joining.

Topics of the Saturday gathering including a LEAP introduction, fire safety/behavior, training requirements, radio protocols, go kits, LEAP software demonstration (animal management), personal protective equipment and fire shelters, and sand tray.

White said volunteers also will need to complete a volunteer application with the county, participate in online training and, if they want to be able to drive into disaster areas, have a report from the Department of Motor Vehicles approved by the county.

LEAP was formed in 2011 under the auspices of Animal Care and Control, as Lake County News has reported.

In its first year, LEAP had 12 volunteers, according to Animal Care and Control. Today, it has 48 volunteers, not counting staff, to help with staging and working with animals. Another 18 of those volunteers certified to go into the field on rescues, White said.

LEAP has worked to rescue animals from the path of several of the county’s significant wildland fires, including the Wye, Rocky, Jerusalem, Valley and Clayton.

For its work during the Valley fire – rescuing everything from dogs and cats to parrots, tortoises and livestock – LEAP received the 2015 Governor’s Volunteering and Service Award for Governmental Agency of the Year, as Lake County News has reported.

LEAP wasn’t activated during this year’s floods, but Animal Care and Control helped shelter animals from that event, White said.

Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson said White’s first assignment as deputy director was to get a trailer for the agency and LEAP’s operations.

He said the ASPCA awarded the agency a grant in December for a new disaster response trailer.

That trailer is still under construction and is expected to be completed the middle of this month, Davidson said.

For more information about LEAP call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.