A fast-moving barn fire took the lives of eight driving horses at Centerline Farm in Union Bridge, Md. on February 9.
Owner Joyce Moxley and her father, Rick Moxley, were notified by a neighbor in the late afternoon who saw smoke coming from the barn. They raced to the barn only to find the fire already out of control.
“The only thing we could see was the smoke,” Joyce Moxley told the Chronicle of the Horse, “and when we got in the barn we heard the crackling of the trusses.”
By the time they got a stall door open they realized they were too late. The horses had died from smoke inhalation.
It took 25 firefighters from Frederick County Fire & Rescue two hours to battle the blaze. When it was over there was little left but the scorched shell of the small yellow barn.
Fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was the failure of an extension cord powering the block heater on a tractor parked inside the barn, said Frederick County Fire & Rescue battalion chief Kenneth L. Poole. Investigators determined the barn was a total loss.
Four teams of driving horses were inside the barn at the time. There were a pair of warmbloods, one of which was a retired FEI dressage horse named Felipe; a pair of Percheron-Thoroughbred crosses, both PMU foals from Canada; and four Percherons, according to The Chronicle.
Five beloved barn cats also perished in the fire.
Neighbors arrived at the barn the following morning offering support and help.
The Moxleys awoke to find their driveway was full of people, including farmers who brought equipment to help bury the horses.
“We had people coming all day, and everyone is offering to help,” Moxley told the Chronicle. “From local farmers to the local 4-H club, people are doing what they can to pitch in.
The Potomac Valley Dressage Association, posted to its website that Moxley had hosted many shows and clinics, introducing driving, to many young people over the years. The PVDA encouraged followers on its Facebook page to contribute to help the Moxleys recover.
Contributions can be sent to Joyce Moxley Centerline Farm, 10183 Bessie Clemson Rd., Union Bridge Md 21791
Fire Prevention Tips
There are many dangers lurking in most barns that can cause a fire, especially in wintertime.
“This time of year presents challenges for farmers who are calving, foaling, farrowing, lambing, and in the months to come raising chicks because they often have to come up with ways to provide warmth for newborns,” said Frederick County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Kenneth Poole.
The devices used are capable of starting a fire and even those using extreme caution failures can still occur, so not every risk can be completely eliminated, he said.
Christine Hajek, a retired Howard County firefighter and paramedic, has seen the devastation of barn fires first hand. As founder and executive director of Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue, which operates two farms totaling 240 acres in Mt Airy, MD, she wants to make sure her stabled horses are safe. “I’m fire phobic,” she said.
The first thing she does when rehabilitating an old barn is gut the existing wiring and rewire with an upgraded system that is dust and mouse proof, she said. Costs run about $4,000 to $5,000 to rewire a 10-to-12 stall barn.
Hajek also strictly limits any plug-ins in her barns. “No heated buckets, no heat lamps,” she said, adding she’s planning to move a refrigerator because of fire hazard. She also keeps large fire extinguishers at every barn entrance.
Hajek has explored fire alarm systems but they are very sensitive and, with dust generated in the air, can sound when there is no fire. At the same time, alarms can be futile because of the speed of most barn fires. “If there is a fire in the barn,” she said, “it could be half engulfed and you’re running back to burning stalls.”
She also recommended storing hay somewhere other than the barn, if feasible, for instance a shipping container or a pop-up “garage in a box.”
Poole said firefighters encounter some fires caused by spontaneous combustion of hay but they tend to be less frequent than these other causes.
Poole offered the following tips barn owners can follow to lessen their exposure and protect their animals:
- A tidy environment is less likely to lend to the start or spread of a fire. Things such as bedding, hay, feed bags, etc. can easily be ignited by one mere spark. The simple act of plugging in or unplugging a device or turning on an electric motor will create an arch which can emit a spark, the starting of a tractor has been known to emit sparks, or simply parking a hot UTV in a barn all have been known to start fires inside of barns.
- If you are forced to use heat lamps try to arrange them in such a manner that if they fall or fail the hot device does not land in bedding or something that can easily ignite. Keep in mind the bulbs themselves can fail causing the hot element to fall even though the lamp housing may still be in place.
- If using heaters make sure you clear the area of anything that can ignite, never leave them unattended and make sure they have cooled down before you leave the barn. Extreme caution should be used if open flame heaters such as a turbo heaters are being used.
- Make sure your electrical system is in good repair and meets the code. Don’t overload the system; this includes everything from the breaker in the panel box all the way to the devices being powered. Electric circuits are made up of breakers, wire, outlets, switches, extension cords, power strips, etc. all of which have ratings. Exceeding the rating of any one component of a circuit can spell disaster.
- Check your extension cords regularly, if there are signs of damage don’t use them. Cords left outside exposed to weather and UV rays will break down over time and it only takes the smallest crack in the insulation around the wire to cause an arch which will emit a spark that could lead to a fire. Do not drive over your cords, this can cause internal damage to the wires that you may not able to see on the outside. Also do not leave excess cord coiled up when being used and do not allow them to run underneath items. Cords must be able to dissipate heat and either of these conditions can prevent that which leads to internal heating and eventually failure.
- Cords and electrically powered equipment and devices that are energized can fail even if there is no load applied to them so to be safe, unplug anything that is not being used or doesn’t need to be plugged in.