How did animals escape to safety in the fire at Yellowstone in 1988?

Answer 1

There have been fires in Yellowstone -- indeed, throughout all of nature -- for thousands and millions of years prior to 1988. Animals that adapted a fire survival strategy survive this VERY common occurence, just like the survival of those animals that adapt to drought or to predators.

For the most part, the large mammals in Yellowstone simply walked to the 80% of the Yellowstone eco-system that went unburned. When, within a few years, the burned out areas began to regrow (as they have for tens of millions of years), the animals enjoyed an incredible bounty of new plants to eat.