![\"Barn](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-04-12_20-24-11-660-e1744577117721.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Beth Clifton collage) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n REDDICK, Florida\u2013\u2013<\/strong>The early morning fire on that killed 21 horses at Roberts Quarterhorse Farms on April 8,\u00a0 2025 in Reddick,\u00a0 Florida,\u00a0 was not huge as barn fires go,\u00a0 certainly not compared to the April 1,\u00a0 2025 fire at the Leuze Dairy Farm in the upstate New York village of Philadelphia that killed at least 200 cows and calves.<\/p>\n `\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 However,\u00a0 begun by a trash fire that blew out of control at about 9:00 p.m.,\u00a0 the Leuze Dairy Farm blaze rated just a seven-sentence report from WWNY television in Watertown.<\/p>\n (Marion County Fire Rescue photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The prominence in horsey circles of the Roberts family by contrast brought intense local coverage and even some national attention.<\/p>\n The media attention may help to rekindle awareness of fire prevention at animal facilities,\u00a0 and has revived memories,\u00a0 as well,\u00a0 of some of the darkest episodes in equestrian history.<\/p>\n \u201cRecords from the Marion County Property Appraiser show that the Roberts Quarter Horse Farm is registered to Roberts Corporation,\u201d\u00a0 reported Jeremiah Delgado for the Ocala News<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cMary Roberts and her late husband, Ralph Larry Roberts, Sr., built the farm decades ago to breed and train quarter horses. \u00a0Roberts, Sr., \u00a0passed away in 2023,\u201d\u00a0 Delgado recounted.<\/p>\n World Equestrian Center barn views.<\/strong><\/em> \u201cOver the years,\u201d\u00a0 Delgado continued,\u00a0 \u201cthe Roberts family has spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing various parts of Ocala and Marion County.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2021, \u00a0the Roberts family celebrated the opening of the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. That billion-dollar facility is the largest equestrian center in the United States and is one of only two in existence in the country, \u00a0joining another facility in Ohio that is also owned by the Roberts family.<\/p>\n \u201cThe family also created the Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, \u00a0a 1,200-acre private community with a bevy of luxurious homes,\u201d\u00a0 Delgado wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Marion County Fire Marshall, \u00a0along with personnel from the State of Florida Bureau of Fire, \u00a0Arson and Explosives, \u00a0and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, \u00a0Tobacco, \u00a0and Firearms,\u201d\u00a0 Delgado said,\u00a0 are \u201cconducting an investigation into the cause of the blaze.\u201d<\/p>\n (Marion County Fire Rescue photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Earlier,\u00a0 Austin L. Miller reported for the Ocala Star-Banner<\/em> that \u201cOfficials believe the fire was caused by an electrical malfunction.\u00a0 No foul play is suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe fire occurred in a 10,000-square-foot barn, \u00a0causing the roof to collapse.\u00a0 No people were injured in the blaze,\u201d\u00a0 Miller said.<\/p>\n \u201cMarion County, \u00a0known as the \u2018Horse Capital of the World,\u2019 \u00a0has experienced similar tragic barn fires in the past,\u201d\u00a0 Miller recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2012, \u00a0for example, \u00a0nine horses were killed in a barn fire at McKathan Farms in Reddick.\u00a0 An employee at the farm was burned and had to be hospitalized.<\/p>\n \u201cTen years before that, \u00a022 horses belonging to clients died when a barn caught fire at Ocala Stud Farm,\u201d\u00a0 Miller added.<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage) <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Said the World Equestrian Center in a prepared statement:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of a tragic incident that occurred on private property personally owned by the individuals who also own World Equestrian Center. \u00a0While the private property is entirely separate from and not affiliated with World Equestrian Center business or operations, \u00a0we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.<\/p>\n \u201cAs this is a personal matter, we will not be providing further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While as Miller reported,\u00a0 \u201cNo foul play is suspected,\u201d\u00a0 any barn or stable fire involving high-priced horses and prominent owners tends to evoke recollections of a series of arsons at horse facilities between the mid-1950s and the early 1990s that eventually brought the conviction of at least 25 people for horse-related arsons and insurance fraud,\u00a0 and the convictions of five more people for related murders.<\/p>\n James A. Blottiaux, \u00a0now deceased,\u00a0 was in 1999 sentenced to serve 100 years in prison for killing equestrian champion Cheryl Ann Rude, \u00a022, \u00a0with a car bomb in 1963, \u00a0as hit man for one of the alleged founders of the arson ring, \u00a0Silas Jayne, \u00a0who died in 1987.<\/p>\n Rude was an accidental victim. \u00a0Silas Jayne allegedly hired Blottiaux to kill his brother,\u00a0 George Jayne.\u00a0 Silas Jayne was convicted of conspiring to murder George Jayne after the latter was killed in 1971.<\/p>\n Richard Bailey,\u00a0 deceased in 2023,\u00a0 was convicted in connection with the 1977 disappearance of candy heiress and animal welfare patron Helen V. Brach,\u00a0 66,\u00a0 who was investigating the horse killings.<\/p>\n The arson and murder investigations also brought the conviction of former stable owner Kenneth Hansen, for allegedly murdering three Chicago boys in 1954, \u00a0after sexually assaulting one of them.<\/p>\n (See<\/strong> All the money in either racing or breeding horses is gambling money<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/em><\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n More recently,\u00a0 at the opposite end of the horse ownership economic scale,\u00a0 a February 21, 2025 fire at an unregistered stable in southwest Philadelphia,\u00a0 called the Scorpion Horse Ranch, killed two horses, \u00a0but construction workers from a nearby job site rescued 12 horses, \u00a0a goat,\u00a0 and a pig.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficials said the stable was operating illegally on a redevelopment property owned by the city,\u201d\u00a0 WPIV-TV reported.<\/p>\n Updated the Pennsylvania SPCA Danville Center on March 18,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAn unknown individual went onto the property and started a fire that burned the makeshift stables with animals in them to the ground. \u00a0A $10,000 reward is now being offered for any information that leads to the successful arrest and prosecution of the individual who started the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the rescued animals,\u00a0 the Pennsylvania SPCA said,\u00a0 \u201cWe are happy to report that everyone is on the right track for a clear bill of health. Some of the horses are even available for adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n All animals,\u00a0 a variety of horses and pigs,\u00a0 were rescued by firefighters from what WTVG of Toledo,\u00a0 Ohio described as \u201ca massive barn fire\u201d in Blissfield,\u00a0 Lenawee County,\u00a0 on April 5,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 but \u201cThe 80 x 200 barn was engulfed in flames and is a total loss.\u201d<\/p>\n The worst U.S. fire involving animals thus far into 2025 appears to have been a January 3 blaze at the Plaza Latina shopping center in northwest Dallas,\u00a0 Texas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 579 animals in the Plaza Latina pet shop,\u201d\u00a0 including chickens, \u00a0hamsters, \u00a0two dogs and two cats, \u00a0\u201cdied from smoke inhalation,\u201d \u00a0Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans told media,\u00a0 adding that \u201cThe flames from the fire never reached the animals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cause of the fire was not immediately determined and is under investigation,\u201d\u00a0 Evans added.<\/p>\nNotice of high-end blaze involving horses of the rich & famous eclipses attention to blaze killing 10 times as many cattle<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nIntense local coverage of horse barn fire<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u201cHundreds of millions\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThird bad local barn fire since 2002<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nWorld Equestrian Center statement<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nArsons recalled<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nScorpion Horse Ranch<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPlaza Latina<\/h2>\n