Equestrian center fire kills two horses, destroys part of facility

A large fire at a southeast Minnesota equestrian center on Thursday killed two horses and a cat — and took fire crews 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 a few miles southwest of Winona. 

In a statement posted to social media, the Wilson Fire Department said the call came in just before noon on Thursday. The first crews on the scene found flames engulfing one of the facility’s barns and a residence — parts of a complex that in total encompasses about 128,000 square feet.

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 Wilson 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 fire department described it as “the largest structure in our response area and one of the largest in rural Winona County,” and 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.”

Authorities said parts of the complex totaling about 31,000 square feet were destroyed in the fire, and another 45,000 square feet had minor smoke and heat damage. Fire damage to the arena was minimal, the fire department said in its statement.

Equestrian Center leaders said in a social media post Friday that an employee and his family were living in the residence that was destroyed, and lost all their belongings. 

“I am truly heartbroken, as are our employees and our countless amazing family, friends and participants,” the statement reads. “As hard as this is, today we wake up grateful that every person is safe.”

The statement also thanked first responders who saved much of the facility. An online fundraiser is under way to help the family that lost their home.

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

Correction (Nov. 22, 2024): An earlier version of this story misstated the time and duration of the fire, as well as the lead fire department involved. The above story has been updated.

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