Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994 TAG: 9404090067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GLENVAR LENGTH: Medium
Deputy Chief Pat Hallahan of the Fort Lewis Fire Department said the horses died of smoke inhalation. The Fire Department is less than a mile from the barn, but Hallahan said the barn - off U.S. 460 in Roanoke County - burned so fast that there was no way to save the two horses, 5-year-old geldings Caribbean Cruise and Cardinal Views Mark of Excellence.
A third horse, Cocktail Talk, was rescued by firefighters.
"We had no idea when we got here that the horses were in the barn," Hallahan said. "Someone showed us where [Cocktail Talk] was."
That someone was Keith Roberts of Salem, who saw the fire from U.S. 460.
"I saw the horse stick its head up, so I showed the firefighters where it was," Roberts said.
Curtis Turner of 1235 Boulevard in Salem owns Cocktail Talk and was the owner of Caribbean Cruise. Turner also owns the property where the barn is located.
The owner of the other show horse, Mary Coldiron of Salem, was at the barn Friday afternoon and left about 4 p.m. "It was incredible how fast it burned," she said.
Cocktail Talk, a 4-year-old mare, was taken to the Virginia-Maryland Regional School of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Gareth Moore, a veterinarian at the school who helped transport the horse, said she would be watched closely for several hours.
Members of the Turner family walked the horse in front of the smoking barn to try to calm her down for more an hour. As the truck hauling Cocktail Talk pulled onto U.S. 460, a bulldozer was razing the charred remains of the barn.
Hallahan said Friday that the fire's cause had not been determined.
A cat also died in the blaze.
by CNB