When two brush fires erupted in the mountains above the San Gabriel Valley earlier this week prompting mandatory evacuations in some cities, residents moved quickly, taking clothes, their pets and a few important documents with them to safer ground.

As the winds picked up Monday afternoon, pushing flames dangerously close to several farms in the foothills, the calls from concerned horse owners began to roll in.

There were nearly 200 horses that needed to be evacuated and not much time to do it.

“The fire was so close to the ranches there in the mountains, so there was a real sense of urgency because it was so hot and dry with the potential to move so quickly,” said Mike Willman, a spokesman for Santa Anita Park.

Two rival horse transport companies pooled their resources, sending drivers into treacherous territory to safely remove the animals from the fire zone.

As smoke filled the air and helicopters hovered overhead, the horses were led out of their stables and into waiting horse hauling trailers.

Kerrie Cargill, who owns KC Horse Transport, described it as a sort of organized chaos.

“I had two drivers come off of vacation to help and I had drivers sleeping at Santa Anita in their trucks so if something happened during the night they could get there quickly,” she said.

The toughest thing, she said, was moving so many horses without a plan.

Cargill reached out to Tom Hubbard, owner of Bob Hubbard Horse Transport, and together the pair secured seven trucks, each with a maximum capacity of 15 horses.

“All of our guys just jumped in,” Cargill said. “It takes manpower to move that many horses that quickly.”

Some workers from Santa Anita also headed up the mountain to help save horses from rival stables, she said.

Allen Severinsen, a booking agent for Hubbard, said in the normal scheme of things these companies rarely work together.

“This is different,” he said. “In the horse world, people will do what they have to do in times of crisis and that’s because we all love the horse.”

Although he’s not a driver by trade, Severinsen does have the required license to drive a horse truck or trailer so he worked alongside Cargill and her team late Monday and into Tuesday, driving load after load away from the fires.

He said they evacuated horses from various ranches in the area including the Encanto Equestrian Center in Duarte, Rainbow Ranch in Azusa and Bliss Canyon Thoroughbred Farms in Bradbury. Some were taken to vacant stables at Santa Anita Park while the rest were transported to the Fairplex in Pomona.

Renee Hernandez, a spokeswoman for Fairplex, said the facility had taken in 200 horses as of Wednesday morning. It took in a healthy mix of racehorses, show horses and even some pet horses, she said.

“When this all started on Monday it was pretty hectic around here,” she said.

Citrus Feed Co. in La Verne donated food and bedding for the horses and helped ready the stalls for the animals’ arrival.

“The whole community just jumped in to help,” Cargill said. “It was very heartwarming to see.”

Evacuation orders were lifted for some Duarte residents Wednesday, but Los Angeles County sheriff’s Cmdr. David Halm said RVs, trailers and livestock such as horses won’t be allowed in because the fire department needs to be able to operate its vehicles in neighborhood streets in case a fire breaks out.

Hubbard and Cargill said they are on standby, waiting for word from local authorities to go pick up the horses and take them home.

For now, Hernandez said the horses have all been fed and appear quite comfortable in their stalls.

“I just came back from the stables right now and everything is quiet,” she said. “They are all chomping on some carrots, so to me it looks like they are having a good time.”