"There was a fire, and we had to evacuate," Reid, her young son, said.
Their home survived, though many of the outbuildings were destroyed by the fire. They didn't know the extent of the destruction at the time.
"That was my horse and I miss him," Reid said.
9News received a picture of a horse standing next to a fire engine during the High Park Fire that. Once the Mellum family saw the photo, they knew it was their horse Shamus, who had been left behind.
"He had three houses around him burn, all the stuff in here burned, the hillsides behind him burned," Mellum said.
It took days, but the Mellums were finally able to track Shamus down. The only problem was that the family had received foreclosure notice while they were evacuated. They knew, even if they got back to their home, that they wouldn't be able to take care of more animals.
But after the person who was keeping their horses recently told them he could no longer take care of them, Amy Mellum said she knew she had to get Shamus back.
So, on Thursday morning, Shamus was returned home.
He is suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from exposure to smoke, and the family is struggling to pay for his food, but they say they are grateful to have their Shamus back.
"[It] feels good," Mellum said. "it's beginning to feel like home again."
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