April 13--Madison Wallraf, 15, was looking forward to a ride on her chestnut quarter horse, Red, but as her stepfather drove up to the horse's barn Wednesday evening, they found the stable in flames.
The Johnsburg High School freshman called 911, jumped out of the car and raced into the barn to try to find the former trail horse that she adopted and housed at the Black Tie Stables in unincorporated McHenry County.
She and her cousin led their horses out of the barn and returned for others, crawling on the ground at one point to avoid the thickening black smoke. The horses were panicked and jumped on each other, making it too difficult to use halters, she recalled. Wallraf started looping ropes around the necks of horses, including two foals, pulling them away from the fire as quickly as she could.
"My life wasn't my first priority," said Wallraf, who was treated and released from Centegra Hospital in McHenry after being kicked in the shoulder by a horse. "I just saved as many as I could. ... They were too scared."
Terry Upton was the next to arrive, having seen the fire on his way home. The teenagers had already saved his wife's 1-year-old gelding, Cash, so he led three other horses out of their stalls to escape the raging fire.
Later, he learned that one had returned to the stable and perished alongside at least 17 others -- a number that may grow as investigators sift through the rubble in days ahead.
Debris was still smoldering Thursday as horse owners, trainers and investigators wandered about the property trying to assess the losses. Several were in tears.
As of Thursday afternoon, two horses remained missing after being spotted in a swampy area nearby, officials said.
"We are all very emotional today," said Upton. "If it's not your horse, it's one of your friend's horses."
Patricia Breitberg, a Cary resident who breeds bright paint horses, also choked back tears as she surveyed the scene. She has boarded her horses at Black Tie for 10 years, and lost a 2-year-old gelding, Dunn and Brook Street, to the fire.
She managed to move six other horses to another barn in Grayslake, but was struggling over the loss of the gelding, a decorated show horse, which she raised from birth.
"They just didn't have time to get out," she said. "With a barn this big it goes fast."
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, officials said. The stable at 101 W. Bay Road sits in a rural area near the Lake County line where there are no hydrants. More than 100,000 gallons of water had to be tanked in, with help coming from 21 neighboring fire departments, said Tony Huemann, chief of the McHenry Township Fire Protection District.
Investigators are looking into rumors that a charcoal grill or an open burner are to blame, he said. The fire started in the far southeast portion of the barn, near an adjoining apartment where one or more workers lived. Investigators so far believe the fire was an accident.
The barn, about 250 feet long by 130 feet wide and about one and a half stories high, was destroyed, he said. Officials believe that 31 horses were safely transported to other barns. Most are expensive show horses, including Arabians that were being trained at the facility.
The owners, Richard Wright and his wife, "are both devastated," Huemann said. Wright declined to comment at the scene.
Officials weren't sure of the stable's total horse count as they scrambled Thursday to account for all the animals.
A helicopter located horses in a swampy area by using thermal technology and lights, but searchers were unable to corral them, Huemann said. "The horses spooked and ran away," he said. Volunteers, including a firefighter on horseback, continued the search Thursday at the nearby Volo Bog State Natural Area and Pistakee Bog Nature Preserve.
Officials advised anyone who spots a loose horse to call McHenry County Animal Control to report the location, but not try to approach the horse. The nonprofit Hooved Animal Humane Society is also helping in the investigation.
Debra Quackenbush, spokeswoman for the McHenry County Department of Health, confirmed the deaths of 18 horses Thursday but said "that number will likely go higher."
"It's going to take some time to sift through all the rubble and identify the horses."
She said that the dead horses can be identified by distinctive markings on their shoes and by their DNA, which could be required for insurance purposes.
Upton said his wife and daughter are closer to their horse, Cash, but he holds a soft spot for all creatures.
"It was maybe a foolish thing to do but it was my instinct," Upton said. "I'm an animal person. We have five horses, two dogs and we feed ducks and geese and stray cats. We all have kinship that way."
Tribune reporters Rosemary Sobol and Lawerence Synett contributed.
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