HOUSTON – Six horses died after a fire broke out at a barn in southeast Houston Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out in the 6600 block of Allison at Mykawa around 7 a.m. and quickly spread to an 18-wheeler that was parked nearby. Houston firefighters were called to the scene and said upon arriving, the barn was fully engulfed in flames.
The family that owns the barn told Local 2 they rent out the stables and several owners lost horses in the fire. One of the owners, Aurelio Corona, also parks his semi truck on the property overnight.
Corona arrived Tuesday to pick up the truck and saw that the barn was on fire.
"That's what I do every morning, I feed the horses and then I leave. But this morning, everything was in flames. Everything was burning. There was nothing we could do to put it out," he said.
Corona lost two horses and his semi-truck in the fire.
Arson investigators from the Houston Fire Department spent the morning sifting through the scene trying to determine the cause of the fire. The property owners believe it could have been sparked by a solar powered battery charger that was kept in the barn, but the official cause remains under investigation.
Victor Quiroga, the son of the owner, told Local 2 a total of six horses died as a result of the fire. He said five were killed by the fire and another had to be put down because of its injuries.
"We love horses, whether they are ours or not. It's just painful to see something happen like that," said Quiroga.
Bill Begley, a spokesperson for the Houston Airport System, said due to the smoke, a couple of landings at the nearby Hobby airport were briefly diverted to other runways as a precaution.