Retrospect: Horses died in fire

Thirty years ago this week, seven horses died in a barn fire at Jay County Fairgrounds.

The fire in what was known as Barn C at the northeast corner of the grandstand track at the fairgrounds apparently started sometime after 1:30 a.m. June 4, 1987. Scott Newton reported it at 1:49 a.m. after spotting flames while driving west toward Portland on county road 100 North.

Flames were shooting out of the roof of the 200-square-foot, wood-frame, tin-roof building when Portland police officers Bob Sours and Jeff Harker arrived on scene. They and Newton opened as many doors as possible in an effort to allow the animals to escape. Four were able to do so.

Firefighters arrived on scene about five minutes later. They were able to keep the flames from spreading to another nearby barn, though they had to stretch 2,300 feet of hose from a hydrant at the intersection of Votaw and Pierce streets to help fight the fire. Additional water was needed because a hydrant at the fairgrounds was fed by only a 2-inch line.

As firefighters worked to bring the fire under control, panicked horses ran loose on the grandstand track and beyond. Horse owners were called to round up the animals, with at least one making it about 10 blocks away to near the corner of Arch and Wayne streets.

Among the animals that were killed in the fire were harness horses owned by Jim Powers, saddle horses owned by Larry Newton, a saddle horse owned by Ron Keesling and a pony. One of the horses was being used for a 4-H project.

“She’d been working with that horse three and four hours a night, every night,” firefighter Tom Jacobs said in reference to the girl training the horse for her project.

The state fire marshal’s office was investigating the cause of the fire.