Horseman Rich Banca, the owner of the Mount Hope Training Center in New York, has commented on the tragic barn fire that claimed 24 Standardbreds this past Saturday (June 2). “It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life,” he has said.
Banca’s comments on the fire come courtesy of an article by the Times Herald-Record.
Since the tragic blaze, a pair of GoFundMe pages (available here and here) have been started to help those affected by the loss of life and equipment.
The fire was reported at roughly 3:00 a.m. on Saturday. Banca, who lives an hour’s drive away, explained that he didn’t arrive on the harrowing scene until roughly 4:00 a.m.
“When I first pulled in, I couldn’t get to the farm because there were so many fire trucks and police,” Banca told the Times Herald-Record. ”... People from the fire department said they could see it from miles away, the glow in the air.”
The state’s office of fire prevention and control are investigating the fire. The article also explains that state police have turned the case over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of the horses that perished in the blaze.
To read the Times Herald-Record article in its entirety, click here.
(With files from the Times Herald-Record)