Sylmar animal ranch ravaged in Creek Fire

Saturday, December 9, 2017
Sylmar animal ranch ravaged in Creek Fire
Reptacular Animals, an educational animal ranch and wedding venue in Sylmar, was ravaged by the Creek Fire.

SYLMAR, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Reptacular Animals, a 15-acre educational animal ranch and wedding venue in Sylmar, was ravaged by the Creek Fire.

Owners Cory Lagusker and his wife Jennifer lost their home and most of the structures on their property.

"I'm very saddened that I did not go back in here and I didn't grab one thing. I was trying to save my property, animals, my wedding venue, but I wish I would have spent just five minutes and just grabbed one thing," Cory said.

The couple witnessed their home burn to the ground as they focused their efforts on saving their animals and venue space.

A wedding is booked for next weekend and the Laguskers said they will be ready.

"We just have to replace light bulbs, change some things up, fix the ground up a little bit," Cory added.

A neighboring property also offered their location for the Lagusker's wedding clients.

"We also have the Gold Creek Center that has been gracious enough to open their doors, and they have like a 200+ property up there, so there are ways to figure it out," Jennifer said.

The couple's main business is Reptacular Animals -- with 500 animals, including cows, peahens and reptiles.

All 500 animals were saved, including a duck that survived the fire on the property. Other animals were rushed into cars and transported off the property.

Many of the animals were now in small crates in the homes of kind people. The staff at Reptacular Animals have been working around the clock and set up a GoFundMe page to help rebuild what was lost.

To donate to the ranch, visit gofundme.com/reptacular.