With the lives of thousands of animals at stake, three Alabama trucking companies — in the wake of deadly wildfires that decimated 1 million acres of grazing area — responded to a call from agriculture commissioners in that state and Texas to deliver loads of hay to ranchers whose livestock were facing starvation.
Wildfires that hit the Texas Panhandle in February claimed the lives of three residents, including 40-year-old volunteer Fire Chief Zeb Smith, who died in the line of duty. The fires also destroyed 138 homes and businesses and killed 15,000 head of cattle.
For ranchers, the tally for those lost cattle was $27 million, along with $26 million worth of damage to grazing areas that could no longer be used to feed the surviving livestock. The lives of those cattle, and some horses, rested in the ability to get hay to the affected area.
