Los Angeles, California — Since January of this year, wildfires have torn through Southern California, killing many residents and leaving more homeless. Nicole Ellis, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer with Rover, is one such California native. In January 2025, she lost her Altadena home in the Eaton fires. Thanks to her preparation and quick thinking, especially while caring for pets of her clients and her own two dogs, Ellis and her husband were able to evacuate in time.
“Once I saw the flames and all power went out, I told my husband, we need to leave right now,” Ellis said. Her community didn’t receive an evacuation warning, as it appeared the wind was blowing the flames away from their neighborhood. However, Ellis’s experience helping evacuate horses from the Woolsey Fire, and her own research, helped her know what to look for.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as of June 19, there have been a total of 2,678 wildfires in 2025. The result has led to 89,431 acres burned and 16,276 structures destroyed. Thirty casualties have occurred, pending coroner confirmation.
Ellis is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), American Kennel Club CGC evaluator and APDT trainer. The job requires her to be knowledgeable on animal safety. As wildfires continue to devastate California, she works hard to educate her clients on how to safely care for their pets and prepare for the worst. Ellis said her experience evacuating for the fires reaffirmed much of what she already does to prepare pets and pet owners for emergency situations.
One example Ellis gave was the importance of having dogs crate trained. “If your dog’s not used to a crate, it can make a stressful experience even more stressful,” she said.
Ellis crate trains all of her client’s dogs, and she said being able to put her dogs and her client’s dogs in crates during her evacuation made the process smoother. “It just reaffirmed crate training, not being cruel, and just really coming in handy for us during this time.”
Ellis recommends other safety tips like keeping photos of pets’ vaccination records and making sure pets are microchipped with up-to-date information on their chips and collar tags. She recommended stocking up on pet medication as one way to maintain a pet’s regular routine. Bringing along a pet’s favorite blanket or toys can help them acclimate to different environments during an evacuation.
Perhaps most importantly, Ellis stressed the impact of being connected with the local community for pet support, help and resources. In her community, Ellis compiled a spreadsheet of local pet companies that were helping fire victims by replacing lost dog tags or donating food.
“And it just kind of restores your faith in the pet world and the world itself, of the good people coming forward,” Ellis said. She emphasized that helping her community was just as important as being prepared herself. When Ellis and her husband evacuated, they knocked on neighbors’ doors and encouraged them to leave too.
“It wasn’t just us. Everybody was banging on each other’s doors, like, ‘Hey, we’re leaving. You should leave too,’” Ellis said. “So definitely, I’d say preparation is going to be obviously the key to everything, but try to look out for each other.”
