Who are you gonna call when you have a real life horse emergency?? Why, Norco Animal Rescue Team of course !

The Norco Animal Rescue Team can get the call at anytime, with the latest being New Year's Day.

A horse tumbled into a ravine off Indian Truck Trail in the Cleveland National Forest. Within minutes of finding the animal, team members had it in a sling and it was hoisted to safety by helicopter.

"It can take about five or six minutes," said Berwin Hanna, a Norco city councilman and rescue team member. "You practice it enough, it just all falls into place."

Buzz Riebschlager, left, Mike Wilcox and Doug Wozny check out a sling that was used on New Year's Day to rescue a horse that had fallen into the Cleveland National Forest near Glen Ivy Hot Springs.

The team has been around about five years but the idea of Norco residents pitching in when an animal needs help goes back further. That, in part, helped lead to the formation of the team, said Renee Power, Norco animal control superintendent.

Over the years, the team expanded to include separate groups to rescue animals, evacuate them to a safe area and care for them once they are housed at a base camp. The team is best known for its work at rescuing horses but has rescued smaller animals, such as goats.

"We don't limit ourselves to big animals," said Norco Fire Chief Jack Frye, who with Power helped formalize and train the team. "Whatever we're asked to do, we do it."

The team also does not limit where it will go. The members have rescued animals in fires from the San Bernardino Mountains to the San Gorgonio Pass and into San Diego County.

Just after being hired in 2004, Frye said, City Manager Jeff Allred asked him to meet with some residents already involved in animal rescue "to get them prepared to get into a fire scene.

"We started out with about 30 people trained in animal evacuation, animal first aid and how to recognize animal behavior," Frye said.

After about six months, team members were certified by the city as animal rescue agents.

Power pointed to the fires in San Diego County in 2005 as a time when the team got a real test. The group housed more than 300 animals at what she called a "very successful evacuation center.

"After that, we realized we had the ability to put a team together," Power said.

The team, headquartered at Norco Fire Station 22, now includes dozens of members who are trained in all facets of the operation.

Tuesday night, a half-dozen members involved in the New Year's Day rescue reviewed what took place that day and checked over the gear they used to make sure it is ready for the next call.

The bulk of the equipment is kept in a retired fire department rescue vehicle and a trailer donated to the team. The gear, also donated, includes everything from traffic cones to tools and an all-terrain vehicle to canes and a sled to move a large animal that is unable to stand.

The team also took time to take another practice run a putting a horse -- this one made of plastic -- in the sling. The team members spent only a few minutes putting on the sling and lacing it up. The team trains twice a month, Hanna said.

"We drill these people," Frye said. "We'd like them to be able to do this blindfolded."

(curtesy of Press Enterprise) repost