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Firefighters Give A Hoot; Owl Rescued From Maria Fire In Ventura County, Becomes Social Media Hit

(Ventura County Fire Department photo)
Ventura County firefighters rescue an owl from the Maria fire zone Saturday

One of the animal victims of Venura County's Maria brush fire is not only going to be okay, it's fast becoming a social media superstar.  An owl was spotted by some Ventura County firefighters on Saturday. Members of Hand Crew 12 were looking for hot spots near Somis when they saw the owl in a drainage area. They watched it for a few minutes, and realized it might have been injured by the blaze.

They used their coats to pick up the bird. It remained calm. Someone shot some pictures of the owl with the firefighters, which has a “whoooo…me” startled look about it. The images are ending up everywhere through social media.

The owl was taken to the Camarillo Wildlife Rehabilitation center. It suffered some smoke inhalation, but animal rescue workers say they expect it will make a full recovery, and will be returned to the wild.

With the Los Angeles Rams football team based in Ventura County, and the firefighters big fans, it was decided to name the owl after the team, so it’s being called “Ram.”

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.