Fact...

What if your horse died and you could have prevented it?

Read Articles in Fire Safety in Horse Barns

A number of years ago I began keeping a chart of animals killed in fires. I have come to call this chart (see box) my VERY SAD CHART, and I am upset every time I have to add more information to it. My original intent was to see what factors were involved; to find patterns.  What I found through keeping this chart is that in almost every instance, animals were dying in preventable fires, and the cost of prevention was very low when compared to economic disruptions when animals died as a result of fire or other disaster.  But, economics aside, the emotional toll we suffer, and often carry with us for the rest of our lives, is incalculable.

That’s why this website exists—to provide the basic facts on fire safety in horse barns (and all other livestock and animal housing facilities), and to keep you up-to-date on fire prevention products and practices.  There’s a lot of prevention that can be accomplished for an amazingly small cash outlay, and there is much to be learned from those who fight barn fires and those who, tragically, have been victims of barn fires.

Read Articles in Fire Safety in Horse Barns

or Fiction

How about stepping back in time to summer, 1932?

Visit Woodhill, Ohio, the village featured in my Firehouse Family books.

In MEMORIES, New York City Fire Captain Jake McCann is appointed fire chief in a small town near Cleveland, Ohio, where his twin brother is a physician.   Until Jake's arrival in Woodhill, Laura Darvey's life has been completely predictable; she is 31, married, a nurse, and breeder of Appaloosa horses.  Jake and Laura share an interest in horses that deepens into a love affair and leads to terrifying consequences when Laura's husband, Dan, a small-time racketeer, exacts his revenge after Jake inadvertently exposes Dan's deepest secret.

THE QUARRY introduces elderly Maudie Hegerty, whose son, Boris, is foreman of the local quarry.  Boris is facing not only potential labor problems, so rife in the 1930s, but he must also come to terms with the colon cancer that is killing his mother.  Maudie is being cared for by Dr. Jessica Malloy, the physician in charge of the emergency department at Woodhill Memorial Hospital.  In the course of her work, Jess befriends Woodhill Fire Department First-Aid officer, Eli Sheffler, who becomes her steadfast friend through the course of Maudie's illness and events at the quarry that threaten everything they hoped was in their future.

In THE FARM FIRES, a small palomino horse brings Glynis Hampton, daughter of dairy farmer Ben Barneshill, into a chance meeting with Woodhill Fire Department Captain Freddy Pratter at the scene of the horseowner's death.  During his investigation of a series of field and farm fires, Freddy falls in love with Glynis even as his investigation leads him to suspect that a member of her family could be the serial arsonist who has killed twice and could kill again in his thirst for revenge.

I wrote these novels to explore problems that haven't changed much over time.  MEMORIES deals with the emotional trauma of firefighting and how Jake McCann and his firefighter friends cope with their memories.  THE QUARRY looks at medical ethics dilemmas that we still grapple with today, and THE FARM FIRES illustrates an arson problem that may never be stopped no matter how technologically advanced we become.

I hope you’ll visit Woodhill and get a chance to meet some of the very nice, interesting folks who live there.

Go to The Firehouse Family Book Series