Florida barn fire kills nine Thoroughbreds

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A barn fire Sunday at James “Luke” and Jocelyn McKathan’s Reddick, Fla., farm and training center has killed nine Thoroughbreds, according to a report in the Ocala Star-Banner.

Three other horses also suffered burn injuries but were rescued from the single-barn fire, which also injured one farm employee, who reportedly declined hospital treatment. J.B. McKathan, a bloodstock agent and pinhooker who is a son of the farm owners, told the Star-Banner that it was not yet clear whether those horses would survive.

Five additional horses were led out and apparently are safe.

J.B. McKathan said all of the dead and injured horses belonged to Luke and Jocelyn McKathan. Local firefighters got the call about the blaze at 10:31 a.m. and arrived by 10:40 to find 75 percent of the barn already involved, according to the report. On Monday, the Marion County Fire Marshals’s office determined that the fire’s cause probably was electrical.

The fire is under investigation by the fire marshall’s office.