Firefighters practice rescue skills needed in horse barn

Excerpted from an article by Bruce A. Scruton for the New Jersey Herald.

FREDON — The barn was filling with smoke.

The firefighters were there with helmets and turnout coats on, leading the horses, blankets over their heads, from one end of the barn to the other.

It was a drill at Spring Valley Farm, one of the township’s largest equine centers, giving firefighters and some horse owners a sense of what to do should a real fire strike the horse barn.

Running the training session was Bob Bishop, an insurance agent who specializes in agricultural properties, especially horse farms.

“There’s 90 horses on this property,” Bishop told the firefighters and rescue squad members gathered Tuesday at the farm for a run-through of the property, common among firefighters when it comes to factories, school and other large buildings, but a rarity when it comes to a barn complex.

Bishop’s presentation included facts on barn fires, especially fires involving horse barns. He also handed the firefighters a diagram of the property, including the several barns, main electric junction boxes and propane tanks. The drawings, one for each of the town fire trucks, also included roadways and the large pond that would serve as a water source in case of a fire.

“These barns are like tinderboxes,” Bishop said, noting they often have baled hay — a good fuel source — and large open spaces where a fire can move along unchecked.

Most barn fires are actually caused by wet hay that begins to decompose, creating enough heat to ignite itself spontaneously. Barns also have exposed electrical wires, which can be another ignition source.

Bishop said a typical barn fire might last just 30 minutes but destroy the structure, so quick action leading the animals to safety is needed.

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