Chimpanzees were one of the first to “report” the Highway 10/Hart Road fire near Cle Elum, Washington.
From the NWNewsNetwork:
…Jamie, a female chimp [at the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest], let out a soft high-pitched call when she spotted a plume of smoke rising outside of the sanctuary center’s playroom. The other chimps turned their heads to look. Then, the human caretakers noticed and dialed 911. Staff scrambled, got all the chimps inside and safe, turned on emergency sprinklers and evacuated staff…
And now we hear that a cow elk has been visiting with firefighters, making her rounds “giving kisses to each firefighter and officer” at the Incident Command Post.
Her name is Button. She was orphaned and has taken up residence near the Chimp Sanctuary adopting some goats and horses as her family.
Photos of Buttons with the firefighters are by the Kittitas County Fire District #7. More are here.
Hmmm, we have one article with chimps sighting fire, another with chimps with some understanding of fire behavior, and another article saying that fire managers are increasingly challenged to understand recent fires. But I don’t know that people are ready for chimps as lookouts or fire overhead (literally?).
Here’s a link to our 2009 article about chimps predicting fire behavior.