MILLCREEK, Utah — As families that lost their homes in a devastating fire are trying to rebuild their lives, a local non-profit rescue is trying to reunite them with some special companions.
Jessica Vigos runs Whiskers Utah and is working to find cats that may be hiding after a fire that destroyed two apartment buildings Friday in Millcreek and displaced 23 families. Partnering with Unified Fire Authority, volunteers have set traps with water stations and treats, to try to locate the cats.
"So I was down here the first night of the fire with a spotlight, looking for eyes out in the field over there,” said Vigos, who lives nearby, saw the flames, and is doing her part to help. "These are cats in my community. I knew that their families would need help, and I knew if these were my cats and my situation, I would want some experienced people helping me."
She recommends that people don’t go looking for the cats themselves and calling out to them, because that could scare them. On Tuesday morning, she found two cats: Celie and Suki.
"We got a call from the Whiskers organization,” said Justice Arnold. “They told me, 'We found your cats!' And I was like, 'You found them?' We were so happy!"
He and his wife, Hayley, moved into the Willow Glen apartments in 2022. They were not able to get their cats out when the fire broke, and they were preparing to never see them again.
WATCH: Millcreek fire sparks Mendenhall to order 'immediate audit' of Salt Lake City-owned land
"Everything was gone, and we're just like, me and my wife were devastated,” Arnold said. “Because we didn’t know if our cats were in there, we didn’t know if they got out."
But getting that call from Whiskers made this whole process of starting over a bit easier.
"It was like that hole that was there after the fire just filled back in, because these cats were like our kids,” he said.
Arnold said the cats are a little timid and smoky, but not hurt.
But still, the couple can’t get any of their items back.
"There's a lot of little things you miss, like my bed, my pillows, your favorite cup, your favorite blanket, my couch,” said Arnold.
But there are still more cats that are missing, so the work continues.
"It is extremely important to find the cats for the cats' wellbeing and to give these people something back that they care so deeply about,” said Vigos. “A lot of the people, they did not care about the stuff that they lost; they cared about their cats."
A GoFundMe for Arnold's family can be found HERE.
You can learn more about Whiskers and donate at whiskersutah.org.
Anyone who would like to donate can do so on Millcreek City's online portal HERE. There is also an official online form to offer short-term or long-term rentals HERE.
