PASCO, Wash. - A fire that raced through a barn near Pasco killed four Arabian horses, along with the supplies needed to continue caring for the 20 remaining horses on the breeding farm.
"To a horse man, this is the worst thing that could happen -- losing animals to a fire," said Ted Wenham, a Pasco chiropractor who runs the farm with his girlfriend, Jana Peterson.
The fire broke out last Sunday at the Columbia Stallion Station. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but Wenham told the Tri-City Herald that it may have been an electrical problem in a pumphouse.
Wenham, one of the largest Arabian horse breeders in the area, also lost all the feed, tack, tools and other supplies needed to care for the surviving horses, including six mares due to give birth in the next couple of months. However, he said fellow horse enthusiasts are pitching in to help him.
"Someone brought me four tons of hay already and there's another four tons ready when I need it," Wenham said Friday.
A friend also brought a water tank to use, since the pumphouse was destroyed.
Wenham said he was awakened at 3 a.m. Sunday by a passer-by who saw smoke and started pounding on his door.
Peterson called 911 and Wenham ran outside, but flames already were shooting out of the barn roof and the four horses inside were dead.
"It's devastating to us," Wenham said. One of the horses, a 3-year-old Arabian named Rhythm of Fire, "was the best stallion or horse we had bred to this point. This was our next big breeder."
Another stallion, a 3-year-old blue roan quarterhorse named Tassum Blue, also died. Blue was owned by Wenham's friend and trainer Tony Jackson, and was being watched by Wenham while Jackson was away.
The other two horses killed were geldings, a purebred Arabian named Thai and a half-Arab, half-Hackney named Whassup.
Fire crews who responded could only work to keep the fire from spreading to the house and other stalls, said Chief Les Litzenberger. The farm is about eight miles from the nearest fire station, and water had to be brought in for firefighters to use, he said.
Wenham estimates the horses were valued at least around $40,000, and thinks it'll cost about $140,000 to replace the barn and all the property inside.
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