Fires blazed at a family farm and a historic track this weekend, tragically claiming the lives of four standardbreds
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According to WILX.com, the Sattelberg family lost their uninsured barn in Howell, Michigan after a heater, meant to keep the well pump from freezing, caught fire Saturday morning.
Four horses were trapped inside. The family had been training horses out of the barn for 20 years and had been slowly retiring their remaining horses. According to stepson Brandon Root, the family was already facing financial troubles.
North of the border in Sydney, Nova Scotia, a fire deemed “suspicious” by local police started at Tartan Downs.
CBC reports that police were called to the grandstand of the now closed racetrack at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.
A firefighter on scene was treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and the Cape Breton Regional Police are currently investigating the cause of the fire.