Conference noted::equitation

1397.0. "Fire" by VMSSPT::PAANANEN () Mon Nov 26 1990 12:37

  From the Boston Globe - Sunday November 25 1990

  "Newbury barn fire kills 55 show and race horses"
  By Sandy Coleman

  NEWBURY - A raging fire yesterday morning at Sabbath Day Farm killed 55
  show and race horses and left behind the charred remains of two barns
  where they had been boarded.

  The blaze began in th west wing of the wood-frame metal-siding barn 
  where race horses were kept. It spread to an adjacent barn that held show 
  horses and ponies, said Newbury Police Chief Roger Merry. It took fire-
  fighters about 90 minutes to extinguish the fire, which was in the Byfield
  section of Newbury.

  The cause of the fire was unknown yesterday and is under investigation.
  Arson was not ruled out, said Merry. The estimated damage, including the
  barns and the value of the horses, was set at more than $2 million,
  according to Merry.

  Scott Laffey and his wife Olana have owned the horse boarding and training
  business for nine years. They lease the 150-acre property frm Marshall
  Jesperson of Newbury. The couple owned six horses. The rest of the horses
  belonged to owners throughout the country, who arrived sporadically
  thoughout the morning shocked, saddened and worried after hearing the
  news.

  The Newbury Fire Department was alerted to the fire at Orchard and Maple
  streets at 3:57am by an automatic alarm system that went off in the barn,
  said Merry, who was at he scene yesterday. Firefighters from Byfield,
  Newbury, Newburyport, Georgetown, Boxford and Rowley responded to the
  fire.

  Laffey awoke to the sound of the fire alarm yesterday morning and raced 
  to the blaze from his house, which is about 500 yards up a hill from the
  barns.

  Through a blanket of heavy smoke, Laffey rushed into the show horse barn
  in an attempt to save the animals. He was able to guide three from the
  barn. One horse escaped on his own, he said.

  "When I came down the barn was cooked" said a visibly shaken Laffey,
  who spent yesterday morning surveying the remains of the horses, which
  were hardly distinguishable from charred wood. "They just didn't have
  a shot".

  As a trainer, he said he tried to keep a professional distance from the
  horses, but he could not resist becoming attached to the animals.

  "You get atached to people and you get attached to horses" said Laffey,
  37, who said the fire means he has to start over again.

  Sabbath Day Farm housed several prize show horses, which competed in
  jumping and showmanship competitions throughout New England. Also boarded
  there were race horses that ran at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH. At 
  least one horse had won a "Horse of the Year" award, said Laffey.

  Laffey's five year old son, Scott, had a pony that was killed. He had
  gotten it just six months ago, said Betty Muise, who groomed and cared
  for the horses at the farm.

  "It was such a cute pony" she said, tears filling her eyes.

  Muise, along with two horse owners, stood at he foot of a long dirt
  road that leads back to the farm.

  Newbury police officers stationed at the entrance would not allow horse
  owners to go to the barn until after the initial investigation was com-
  pleted and the carcasses removed.

  Insurance investigators, State Police officials and a veterinarian were
  at the scene yesterday as well. Photographs of the horses were taken for
  insurance purposes.

  Muise arrived at the scene after friends told her what happened. "At 
  first they told me only seven horses had died and I was bummed Then
  they told me most had died. I was hysterical."

  Muise said there were horses of all ages in the barns, including "babies"
  that were two years old and a mare that was used for breeding 
  thoroughbreds. 

  "They're like one of your own" she said. "Scott and Olana must be going
  nuts".

  "I just can't believe this" said Kathy Borylo, who has been a horse 
  trainer at the farm for three years.

  Matthew Morton of New Hampshire came on behalf of his brother and
  sister-in-law, who had boarded three horses at the farm since Thanksgiving
  while they are in Florida. All three horses were killed. Morton drove
  away with the empty horse trailer that once carried them.

  "They are in shock" he said, "Those horses meant everything to them."

  Peter Connelly of Brookline got good and bad news. One of his race horses,
  Bavaro, died. Another, Edisto Gambol, survived.

  "It was distressing this morning to get this information. I was devastated
  when I heard this." Connelly said.

  "I don't know what could have happened...these people are wonderful people
  and I don't know how they are going to get over it."

  -------

    
    	I heard some distressing details through the grapevine 
    	about this fire. There was no hay stored where the horses
    	were to prevent the danger of fire. The fire seemed to 
    	have started in four locations and spread very rapidly. You
    	make your own conclusions.
    

    .1 - .........I already did when I saw the story on TV.
    
    GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
    
    Lynne
    

    all right, tell all.  I only read a short piece in the paper.  Is it
    being thought to have been set?
    
    stephanie

    This is from the grapevine at a horse show on the North Shore held the
    morning after the fire. Scott Laffey reported that the fire spread so
    rapidly through the three separate aisles that he suspects it was set.
    He reported that a boarder with several racehorses was evicted the week
    before the fire. [No specifics given]
    
    Other unfortunate circumstances, Ginger Klingenstein, a trainer
    formerly of Venture Farm in Plaistow NH had just moved the show horses
    of her clients to a new and temporary location [Sabbath Day]. All their
    horses were killed.
    
    My trainer had sold a horse to one of Olana's student about two years
    ago. Sally was a sweet mare who took her young owner safely around
    the children's hunter courses and even won her some ribbons. Sally was
    killed in the fire. We also are acquainted with many of horses who died
    in the fire and their owners who competed frequently against us during
    the show season. It's such a shock to imagine the loss. My horse and I
    were Year End Champions in the North Shore Horsemen's Assoc. Senior
    Hunter Division. The combination that finished Reserve Champion,
    Caroline Reed and Dr. J, were from Sabbath Day. I'm assuming that
    Caroline's horse was lost.
    
    Sabbath Day's Winter Show Series has been brought to an abrupt end in
    Byefield. The show scheduled for this weekend has been relocated to
    Pegasus Farm. The show will be a benefit for Sabbath Day.

    Is it true that Whistlewood Farm in Brentwood NH had a fire last night 
    killing quite a few horses?  Several people have told me that they
    heard it on the radio but they don't have the specifics.  
    
    KJ

    Yes, Whistlewood's barn burned down.  I believe 18 horses were lost.
    They managed to get one out, but it had to be destroyed.
    
    They suspected cause of the fire is heat tape.
    
    -steve