By T. D. Thornton
Four Thoroughbreds died and four were rescued after a fire consumed a transport trailer on the Bluegrass Parkway near Bardstown, Kentucky, at around 6:25 a.m. Monday. No people were reported injured in the blaze.
The horses were being transported from California to Lexington, fire chief Todd Spalding of the Bardstown Fire Department told TDN. A posting on his department's Facebook page estimated the combined value of the perished horses at $750,000.
“The cause of the fire is still under investigation,” Spalding said. “Once the fire started, they pulled off to the side of the road and they tried to get as many horses out as they possibly could. I'm not sure what challenges they faced in getting the horses out; if it was just too much fire to get the other four horses out. One of the horses that did get out got a pretty good laceration on its rear hindquarter, but other than that, all of the other horses were okay that made it out.”
Spalding said he did not have details about the precise location of where the horses were heading or to whom they belonged.
An employee who answered the phone in the California office of KC Horse Transport confirmed that its trailer was involved in the fire. But that person said they were not authorized to comment further. A request for a call back from someone who could speak on the record did not yield a reply prior to deadline for this story.
Bardstown is about 60 miles southwest of Lexington.
“When crews arrived on scene they found a horse trailer with heavy fire involvement,” the Facebook posting stated. “Crews shut down the Bluegrass Parkway to commence fire attack.”
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