Fire Destroys Virginia Fairgrounds Horse Stable

An early morning fire destroyed most of the horse barn at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds.

Firefighters arrived on scene just before 6:30 a.m., Woodstock Fire Chief Phil Hottel said.

"We could see the fire as we came down Main Street, and we called for additional resources," he said as the remnants of the stables smoldered. The tin roof was twisted.

Only one horse was at the barn at the time, and it was saved by its owner, Shenandoah County Fair Association President Terry Kibler said.

"He happened to go get Valentine's stuff for the family, and he was at Wal-Mart," Kibler said. "Looked across there and [saw] the flames."

Horses are boarded at the fairgrounds and trained on the racetrack, but during winter most are gone, he said.

"It just so happened it's winter time," Kibler said. "Two months later, if this had been April, it would've been a lot worse."

Thirty stalls burned down, but 12 were saved - with some of those salvaged at either end of the barn.

"It's all wood construction, very old," Hottel said. "We were probably lucky we saved that much of it. We had some minor damage to homes behind. Very minor to one, and a little bit more to another. It melted siding on the shed.

"We checked all the stables to make sure they were empty. That was our first priority when we got here, make sure there weren't any horses in the stables and protect exposures, which were the homes."

He said firefighters would be on the scene for several hours, pulling tin off the remains of the barn to put out hot spots.

Besides Woodstock Fire Department, crews from Woodstock Rescue, Edinburg, Toms Brook, Conicville, Strasburg, New Market and Shenandoah County Department of Fire Rescue responded to the scene, as did town workers, Woodstock and state police officers and the power company, Hottel said.

He said the fire is under investigation.

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