Fire at Billings stable kills 19 horses

BILLINGS (AP) — Fire officials say 19 horses died when a fire destroyed a large horse barn on the west end of Billings.

AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer

Billings firefighters battle a blaze at a barn on the 2200 block of 70th Street West, on Monday.

Billings Fire Chief Paul Dextras says he did not believe any of the horses in the barn at High Plains Stables survived the Monday morning fire.

About a dozen horses that were not in the barn survived the blaze.

Fire crews responded at 5:22 a.m. and found the barn fully engulfed in flames. The assistant trainer at the facility discovered the fire after awakening to crackling sounds.

Sections of the barn's roof and walls collapsed as it burned.

Dr. Greg McDowell, whose wife Martha owns High Plains Stables, says the horses there are trained for three-day combined events. He says the 19 horses that died were athletes.