{"id":426195,"date":"2026-08-07T06:48:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T06:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/426195\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T06:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T06:48:56","slug":"friend-remembers-northern-california-gann-fire-victim-who-stayed-behind-refusing-to-leave-her-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/426195\/","title":{"rendered":"Friend remembers Northern California Gann Fire victim who stayed behind, refusing to leave her dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A longtime German shepherd breeder is believed by friends to be the woman found dead inside a home in Northern California’s Calaveras County as the Gann Fire<\/a> swept through the area. It’s a loss they say came after she made the heartbreaking decision to stay behind with the dogs she loved.<\/p>\n

Friends identified the woman as Susan Solari, the longtime owner of Hinterland German Shepherds, a breeding operation that had been based on the property for decades.<\/p>\n

A burned sign bearing the name of the kennel is now one of the few reminders left standing after the wildfire moved through the area.<\/p>\n

\"for-web-gann-fire-burned-kennel-sign.jpg<\/p>\n

Joan Wilson, a neighbor and friend of Solari, said the two had spoken shortly before the fire reached the property. Wilson said she tried to convince Solari to evacuate as conditions worsened.<\/p>\n

“She was screaming and yelling, ‘No, I wasn’t going to evacuate,’ ” Wilson said. “There was fire all around.”<\/p>\n

Wilson said she contacted authorities and warned them that Solari was still at the property, behind a locked gate and would not leave without her dogs.<\/p>\n

“I told them she was there, that her dogs were there and she couldn’t get her dogs out,” Wilson said. “She wasn’t going to leave them.”<\/p>\n

\"susan-sue-solari-joan-wilson.jpg<\/p>\n

Susan Solari<\/p>\n

Joan Wilson<\/p>\n

For decades, Solari raised and showed German shepherds at Hinterland German Shepherds, according to the kennel’s former website.<\/p>\n

Wilson described Solari as independent, determined and deeply committed to her animals.<\/p>\n

“She was a great show dog lady. She was headstrong. She was a strong woman,” Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Wilson said she evacuated safely with her own family and animals, but the loss of her friend has been difficult to process.<\/p>\n

“I wish she would’ve listened to me. I wish I could’ve grabbed her. ‘Come on, you’re coming with me,’ ” Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Cal Fire continues to battle the Gann Fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres in Calaveras County and destroyed over a dozen structures.<\/p>\n

“The community around here lives with fire,” said Cal Fire spokesperson Chris Vestal. “They know there’s a likelihood they have to evacuate, and when they get an evacuation order, they’re going to leave.”<\/p>\n

Fire officials continue to urge residents to follow evacuation orders and warnings as the response continues.<\/p>\n

For Wilson, she said she understands Solari made her own choice, one she believes was rooted in the same love for animals that defined her life.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A longtime German shepherd breeder is believed by friends to be the woman found dead inside a home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[26274,3936,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-426195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-calaveras-county","tag-california-wildfires","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}