Samuel's Ranch Fire Recovery Fund

Our friend Jasmine Barsukov, along with her sister Whitney Westbrook are currently the 8th generation to steward Samuel's Ranch, their home.

Samuel’s Ranch  is perched high above Lake Berryessa and straddles both Solano and Napa Counties in California. 

At 10:38 PM on August 17th part of what became the Hennessey Fire and the LNU Lightning Complex ran through their property. The scene was apocalyptic. They had no warning. The only reason Jasmine and her family survived, at all, was the fact that Jasmine had a window open and heard the fire approaching the house.

There were injuries trying to get out and trying to give the sheep a chance to make it by opening their pens. The nightmare of having the sheep chase their fleeing vehicle will never be forgotten. The structures were on fire as they fled.

Jasmine and Yuri Barsukov are newlyweds as of April who had to change their lifelong, dream wedding on the ranch to a very small gathering of their closest family for their recent ceremony due to COVID restrictions. As if all of this was not enough, they are both currently sick with COVID.

They have an immediate need for funds to survive, both for themselves and the animals. At this moment the needs are literally everything: human food & clothing, transport as they rescue surviving sheep, fixing the well, repairing fences, animal feed, boarding fees, medical care, seed to revive pastures. Please, consider donating to them in what must be a dark hour indeed. These are good people. Salt of the Earth and would give you the shirts off their own backs to help anyone. Let’s show them that they are not alone in this crisis. Thank you, in advance for your human kindness.  

UPDATE: We were able to access the ranch late yesterday (8/20) and found many surviving sheep and their guardian donkey, Lily. We evacuated the ones with the most pressing medical concerns and should be able to evacuate the rest later today.