Go Wild for Wildfire Furs

By Heather Rule

Sometimes a hobby turns into a business. That’s the case for Amber Pausch, owner of Wildfire Furs. She started her fur business out of her house about 15 years ago. Her plan was to sew for herself, her family, and maybe a few friends, “but not ever intending to have a store in town and be six months out on custom orders,” Pausch said. 

Her business grew so much that she didn’t have room in her house anymore. It was a natural progression for Wildfire Furs to move to a permanent storefront in Vergas. Not only did it give Pausch more space for her work and merchandise, but it was also a chance to get out in the public eye and in front of people who didn’t know about Wildfire Furs. 

Pausch settled into the new Wildfire Furs home at 110 South Railway Avenue in Vergas in January 2025. Customers can purchase furs or have custom work done. 

“I love meeting the people,” Pausch said. “Since moving to town, that’s definitely a big thing that I enjoy is visiting.” 

Everything she sews is from the fur-bearing family like coyotes, foxes, beavers, otters, and skunks. Yes, skunk. It’s quite the popular fur and sells very quickly at Wildfire Furs; mittens and hats sell out the fastest. 

Pausch sews a variety of items at Wildfire Furs including king-sized blankets, coats, vests, mittens, hats, teddy bears, can coozies, slippers, headbands, earmuffs, and Caddyshack-gopher golf club covers. The store also sells pom-poms to attach to knit hats. About half of her work are custom-made items, when customers bring their tanned fur to Pausch for her to sew. 

Beyond the store in Vergas, Pausch ships a lot of the work to customers who order through the Wildfire furs website. She also meets with customers at trade shows; they’ll bring their own pelts to Pausch, she’ll sew them, and then ship them back to the customers. 

“As far as the actual work goes, I like seeing the pelts that I start with, and then to be able to see the finished product at the end is super rewarding,” Pausch said. 

For more information: https://www.wildfirefurs.com/.