Equestrian center fire kills two horses, destroys part of facility

A large fire at a southwest Minnesota equestrian center killed two horses and a cat — and took workers eight hours to put out.

No people were injured in the fire, which destroyed a barn and a residential area at the Minnesota Equestrian Center in Winona. 

In a statement posted to social media, the Winona Fire Department said the call came in just before midnight on Thursday. The first crews on the scene found flames engulfing one of the facility’s barns and the residence. 

Crews ran aerial towers to drench the fire and called in an excavator to knock down a breezeway to stop it from spreading into connected buildings. The Winona Fire Department called in backup from several other local departments, citing concerns over the size of the building, the advanced stage of the fire and fuel inside the building.

The department said nearly 100 personnel were on the scene from at least a dozen different agencies.

“The majority of those people were volunteers who left their jobs or families, canceled appointments, or skipped their errands to respond to this fire,” the department said in its statement. “Fires like this are exactly why we need a robust, well prepared volunteer firefighting force.”

Equestrian Center leaders said in a social media post Friday that a family was living in the residential area and was displaced in the fire. 

“I am truly heartbroken, as are our employees and our countless amazing family, friends and participants,” the statement reads.

The fire department said it’s investigating the cause of the fire, which investigators believe was not suspicious. 

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