Fire at Equestrian Center in Wilson under investigation

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Wilson Fire Department (WFD) and 15 other agencies in the area battled a fire at the Minnesota Equestrian Center in Wilson for nearly eight hours on Thursday, November 21.

Fire officials stated that the cause of the fire was not suspicious, but the investigation was ongoing.

WFD Fire Chief Josh Murphy said this was one of the most difficult fires of his career due to the nature of the large structure and Thursday’s winds.

“This is how these barns are shaped; basically long corridors, long corridors, and when the wind pushed into the corridor they acted like a giant wind tunnel, pushing the fire into the rest of the building,” Murphy said.

The crew was able to salvage more than 30,000 square feet of the 128,000-square-foot facility with about 120,000 gallons of water, Murphy said.

“It was also a very challenging fire in terms of logistics. We have three different water sources around the building where we release water,” Murphy said.

Minnesota Equestrian Center Owner Jessie Rivers said her employees assumed the cause of the fire was a heater in the front building.

“Some of the items that maybe you know were near that heater, we’re a little bit unsure because technically no one saw it start,” Rivers explained.

Rivers thanked the crew for saving the main arena. He said the fire destroyed the business’ front offices, concessions and the residence where one of its employees lived.

“When I got here, which was probably about 15 minutes away from the fire scene, the entire front barn was engulfed in flames.”

All employees and about 13 horses left the building, but two horses died, Rivers said.

“As the horses were being removed, these two were very close to the area where the fire started and we couldn’t reach them,” Rivers said.

A day after the fire, Rivers said he and his employees would remain on site to ensure the safety of the property as the tires on the horse barn continued to burn.

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