Barn Fire Kills 27 horses in West Virginia
Tragedy struck early this morning in near Charles Town races in West Virginia when a fire killed an estimated 27 horses who were trapped in burning buildings. The fire is thought to have started at quarter to 5. Horse owners, trainer and even tourists on hand banded together to rescue the horse before the fire department could get to the scene. For all their efforts they still couldn’t save 27 of the horses. Half the horses though were saved. The horses were released from the wooden barns and recaptured later.
Independent Fire Company chief Ed Smith said that he had not witnessed a worse fire that involved animals. One of the owners who helped rescue the horses said that he could hear the horses ‘banging at the wall and screaming.’ Tragically it didn’t last too long because of the intensity of the fire and thick smoke.
An executive with the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association said that the organisation was seeking donations to help owners who had lost horses in the fire. He said that despite the scale of the tragedy there was reason to be thankful because the fire could have been a lot worse than it was if the conditions had been slightly windy. In that case the fire would have spread very quickly. He thanked everyone who supported them through the night and helped rescue the animals.
One of the tourists who tried to help the animals said that the heat from the fire was so intense that she feared her shoes might melt off. The tourist haltered and passed on horses to lead them out of the barns. In some cases the horses could not be pulled out and that realization weighed down heavily on those present.
The fire chief said that flames rose up to more than 60 feet into the air. One of the tracks’ employees, who was one of the first persons on scene, noted that the flamers from the most intense fires shot up even higher into the sky and some buildings were completely engulfed by the fire making rescue futile. “There was no Chance of getting them out. Zero.”
Quite a few of the horses involved had participated in races on Sunday at the adjacent track. However the track neither owned nor had any control over it.
Two people who tried to put out the fire suffered minor injuries and in all, 3 barns were destroyed, a fourth was seriously damaged. The total cost is estimated at $1.2 million or more. Each of the horses that perished is estimated to be worth at least $10,000 though the actual value could be significantly higher and the destruction resulting from the fire could have still been quite a bit more extensive. One barn had already been destroyed by the time firefighters arrived and two others were ablaze. Most of the deaths occurred in the first building to catch fire. While the firefighters were unable to resucue those horses, they were however successfully able to stop the spread of the fire to other buildings.
Assistant Fire Marshal has announced that he would investigate the cause of the fire. There was no reason to assume that this was an act of arson but an investigation to rule out that possibility, determine the cause and improve safety was still necessary.
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