‘We lost so many incredible souls.’ Newcastle animal sanctuary loses 40 animals in fire

A Placer County exotic animal sanctuary was devastated early Sunday by a barn fire that left 40 animals dead, including nearly all of the sanctuary’s tortoises, the animal the sanctuary is best known for.

“We lost so many incredible souls yesterday,” Melyssa Descovich, owner of the Enchanted Forest Exotic Animal Sanctuary, said on Facebook. “We lost all of the tortoises that lived at the sanctuary.”

The fire broke out at 3:30 a.m. Sunday in Newcastle, engulfing the structure in flames. The fire killed all the animals inside, except for four pigs that were able to escape.

“Ophelia the tortoise passed but not before laying all her eggs beside her in an effort to save her babies,” Descovich said on social media. “Lucy Goosey passed. All of our baby chicks passed. Momma Rosey passed doing what she is was passionate about, protecting all of the baby ducklings she had with her in her nest. Her ducklings passed too.”

An iguana named Rusty broke free of his cage and ran into the arms of a nearby Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy. He had burns over 80% of his body and died in the deputy’s arms, Descovich said.

The sanctuary’s ostriches, peacock and goats survived. So did one tortoise named Axl who was kept in a different location since he recently arrived at the sanctuary.

Descovich said in a social media post that the sanctuary will remain closed indefinitely until law enforcement and fire authorities have time to investigate the cause.

The Enchanted Forest animal sanctuary was started 14 years ago as a rescue for tortoises. Since then it has grown to include a variety of animals. Its location in Newcastle was open to the public, and visitors were encouraged to bring romaine lettuce and fruit to feed to the tortoises.

The sanctuary will open briefly Monday afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. for those who would like to pay their respects. Donations are being accepted through the sanctuary’s Venmo account, TheEnchantedForest, to fund the feed, bedding and fencing supplies that were lost in the fire.

“The loss is beyond anything we could ever dream of,” Descovich said.

This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 1:40 PM.