A barn fire early Friday morning killed 12 horses at a horse training facility in Lincoln, California, fire officials said.
A neighbor reported the fire at 2:43 a.m. at the Doug and Debbie Ingersoll Training Stables at 2499 McCourtney Road, a 20-acre ranch just outside the city limits.
The barn was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, said Chelsea Fox, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The owners and firefighters tried to enter the barn to rescue the horses but were prevented by the intense heat, Fox said.
“It happened so fast,” said Kirsten Ingersoll, daughter of the facility’s owners.
No civilians or firefighters were injured. The fire, which was under control by 5 a.m., destroyed the 4,000-square-foot barn and killed the horses boarded inside. Structure damage is estimated at $250,000, Fox said.
The horses lost were quality performance quarter horses, trained in reining, cutting and working cow horse events, Kirsten Ingersoll said.
Doug and Debbie Ingersoll have been in the horse training business for more than 40 years and are well-respected in the industry, their daughter said.
The majority of the horses belonged to her parents’ clients, Kirsten Ingersoll said.
“It’s just very devastating,” Ingersoll said. “It’s a horrific loss. Our hearts go out to our customers. They were not just horses, they were part of our family and of our customers’ families.”
No official estimate on the value of the horses has been made available, but horse experts say a top-performing quarter horse can sell for tens of thousands of dollars.
In some equestrian competitions, a horse can win $100,000 in prizes, said Tiffani Kjeldergaard, owner of the Flying Paint Ranch, a horse training facility in San Diego. Trainers usually get a percentage of the winnings, she said.
Susie Skellenger, a friend of the Ingersolls who once boarded her horse at the facility, said it’s not about the money. Losing a horse is devastating because of the friendship it has with its owner, said Skellenger, who was stopping by the facility to offer support.
She said she heard Doug Ingersoll trying to get inside the barn to save the horses.
“Any horse person would go to the ends of earth to save a horse,” Skellenger said.
Late Friday morning, fire officials were on site to investigate the cause of the fire. The Ingersolls’ neighbors and friends and some of the horse owners stood near the charred and mangled remnants of the barn.
Billi-Jo Swanson, secretary of the Southern California Foundation Quarter Horse Club who’s also a trainer and breeder, lost her horses in a California wildfire five years ago.
“My horses are my babies,” Swanson said. “That’s how bad I felt when I lost mine.”
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Note:
Doug and Debbie Ingersoll not only lost 12 horses but their show barn and all their tack.
Monetary Donations:
An account has been set up at Bank of America, under the “Doug and Debbie Ingersoll Fire Fund”. The account number is 08829-70156.
If anyone would like to contribute they may go to any Bank of America branch in the US and have their donation deposited to this account.
If a person is not close to a B of A branch they may also mail a check made out to the Doug and Debbie Ingersoll Fire Fund and send to the following address: Ingersoll Fire Fund c/o P.O. Box 519, Lincoln CA 95648.
Donors names will be recorded and checks deposited to the fund.
Deb Shatley, a neighbor and close friend of Doug and Debbie is overseeing the donations of tack and money. If you wish you can contact her directly.
Deb’s phone number is 916-768-6837 E-mail: dgshatley@dow.com or dgshatley@gmail.com
