Two people were injured and 40 horses were evacuated early Tuesday after a fire damaged part of the Swaps Barn at Oaklawn Park, according to Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis and Oaklawn officials.
The Hot Springs Fire Department was called to Oaklawn at 5:51 a.m. Tuesday to a report of a fire in the second-floor tack room in the barn, which Oaklawn officials said resulted in the loss of two dorm rooms.
"The fire marshals are still investigating the cause, but there were some appliances operating in the tack room," Davis said. "These kinds of things are usually caused by human activity and it is one of those situations where our marshals are doing their due diligence to find the cause."
Davis said two people were injured, and described one of the injuries as minor.
The fire was extinguished in less than 20 minutes, but the fire department returned to Oaklawn shortly before 11 a.m. in reference to a reported "hot spot." Davis said crews had to remove a large section of the roof to extinguish three areas that were smoldering.
"The fire was quickly contained and no horses were harmed," said Jennifer Hoyt, media relations manager for Oaklawn. "All the horses were moved and once the fire was out they returned to their stalls."
Forty horses were evacuated from the Swaps Barn for approximately 45 minutes during the initial fire early in the morning, Hoyt said.
Swaps Barn is not one of the newest barns on the back side, but was built in recent years, she said. Trainers Frederico Villafranco and Danele Durham occupy the barn.
The dorm areas in each barn serve as living quarters for the stable hands during the live meet. Individuals staying in the dorms in this barn will be taken care of, Hoyt said.
The exact cause of the fire remained unknown Tuesday afternoon, she said.
According to Samantha Murphree, a hot walker for Ron Moquet who was on scene, "everyone handled the situation very well and performed fast and efficiently."
"I had a couple of people run upstairs with me to wake everyone up as they were sleeping through the alarm and fire," she said. "They had no idea what was going on, they were frightened. We kicked open the door where the fire was starting and made sure everyone was out."
Murphree said the fire department responded quickly and people from surrounding barns "came together and got the horses to barns further away from the fire."
"My friend Brenna Cowan was getting more help," she said. "We had to move extremely fast and calm otherwise the horses would have broke free."
Davis said there was "good cooperation between the handlers, the horses and jockeys in moving the horses to safety, and out of the way for fire crews to gain access."
"It's a tedious thing working with horses because they can be high-strung," he said. "Not having any incidents with the horses was an accomplishment."
Local on 03/07/2018