Five Horses Perish in Fire at Clayhill Farm in Ohio
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
As reported by The Morning Journal
Five horses perished in an early morning blaze at Clayhill Farm, owned by Holly Linden. Sandy Sessink is the trainer at Clayhill. The fire also took out a barn and horse arena at 52409 Garfield Road, according to Florence Township Fire Chief Bill Rennie.
The caregiver who lives in a house near the barn, reported the fire to 911 around 1:30 a.m. May 9. He opened the horses’ gate so they could escape to safety. Unfortunately five perished, while 16 remain, Rennie said. The entire barn and arena was up in flames by the time the fire department arrived.
“It was really going when we got there,” Rennie said. The horses were running loose, too. Responders were able to corral up the 16 surviving horses. There were no other injuries, Rennie said.
The fire took about 50 firefighters from 10 departments, three pumpers and 10 tankers to snuff out. There were no hydrants in the rural location so the departments had to truck all the water in, extending the battle to four or five hours, Rennie said. There was nothing left when the fire was finally out.
“The barn and the arena are a total loss,” Rennie said. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. Rennie called the State Fire Marshal in to investigate.
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