BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Police officers woke up West Bethlehem resident Ann Kichline and her family about 3 a.m. Thursday morning by ringing their doorbell and pounding on the door.
A tanker truck had overturned near West Union Boulevard and Paul Avenue about 2 a.m., and spilled an estimated 6,000 gallons of fuel, prompting an evacuation in her Bethlehem neighborhood, a Northampton County dispatch supervisor said.
Police evacuated hundreds of people from homes within1,000 feet of the spill.
Nitschmann Middle School opened its doors for people to shelter there. For the first time, displaced people and their animals were allowed to stay together in one place.
- An overturned tanker truck spilled an estimated 6,000 gallons of fuel
- West Bethlehem residents evacuated from the area near the gas spill were allowed to shelter with their pets
- It was the first time people and pets could stay together
Kichline and her family needed to leave their home immediately, but she wanted to know about taking her dog, a pug named Daisy. Her daughter also has a cat and a dog.
“What do we do with our animals? They’re coming with us.”Bethlehem resident Carly Jefferson
“That was the first thing we asked,” Carly Jefferson said. “What do we do with our animals? They’re coming with us.”
As emergency management crews mobilized to contain and clean up the gas and diesel leak, so did Lehigh Valley CART, the animal response team serving Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Victoria Schadler, the organization's coordinator, said it's considered the “Red Cross for animals.”
The Red Cross contacted CART about 6 a.m., so it could help care for the affected pets, Schadler said. At that time, the shelter had 25 dogs and one cat.
“We supplied some food for them,” she said. “We have a cat here, so we gave them supplies for the cat, food and cat litter.”
She said letting pets be with their owners is something new for their organization.
“Normally we’d be in another building,” she said. “They wouldn’t allow dogs and animals in with the humans sheltering.”
Kichline said there was no question that she was taking her dog Daisy with her.
“I brought her a little bit of food and her medication that she takes later in the day just in case,” she said. “Brought her medication, my medication, a little bit of food and my phone charger.”
Lehigh Valley CART has additional resources for animals if people need to stay sheltered overnight and longer. It has crates in which dogs can sleep. It also can transport animals to vet hospitals. It has a shelter trailer, a supply trailer and two horse trailers. The group frequently responds to house fires as well.
Schadler said it has a drill scheduled for Dec. 3 in which it will have a training session setting up two shelters — one that comingles people and animals and one that is separate.
CART is always looking for volunteers to help out, she said.
