At Least Seven Horses Dead in Rowlett Barn Fire

Fire crews had trouble accessing stable fire

A barn fire in east Dallas county has left at least seven horses dead.

The fire was called in at 10:10 p.m. Saturday at the Rowlett Stables along Rowlett Road just south of Miller Road.

Twelve hours after the fire broke out, Rowlett Fire & Rescue crews were still mopping up on Sunday.

"We’re still putting down hot spots," said Eric Zimmerman, a Rowlett Fire investigator.

There is very little left of the stable, which horse and stable owners sifted through the rubble. They were all too emotional to talk after not just losing the barn, but the horses.

"Until we get all the metal roofing off, then we can tell for sure, but I know for sure we have seven [dead]," Zimmerman said.

Fire crews were able to save another 10 from the fire. The blaze lit up the night sky, captured by passersby like Andrew Gorton.

"It was blazing and didn’t even look like there were any trucks that were spraying water on it," Gorton said. "And I looked at the (Twitter) page and said it was too hot so they had actually backed off,"

One of the challenges for firefighters trying to put the fire out was access. The main road into the stable was too muddy.

"We had two fire engines actually got stuck on that other road," Zimmerman said, from a neighboring property.

Fire crews rain fire hoses approximately a quarter-mile at the nearest fire station to get water into the area. On top of that, a barn is like a match stick waiting to be struck.

"It’s a lot of hay, a lot of combustibles in the building, so that’s what went up," Zimmerman said. "And hay and everything in there, the tin fell on top of it, so it was a rough time putting it out."

And now those who lost horses are having a tough time with their loss.

"It's a sad time of the year, you don’t want anyone losing anything and horses are kind of family members too," Gorton said.

Investigators do not know the cause of the fire just yet.

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