Does your barn have a fire saftey rescue plan?
Please share with us what your barns fire safety/rescue plan is.
I was at a friends barn yesterday and it occurred to me that many facilities don’t have a rescue plan posted or even discussed with the boarders. This surprised me since I don’t board my horses, but made me question what other facility owners do.
The only place I ever boarded…did have a plan…and the stalls and barn were built for it. This was on a military installation…so I guess it went with the territory.
The barn was built ‘inside out’. Instead of a central alley with stalls on each side…the stalls were back to back…and you just had to go on either side of the building to get to ‘your’ horse. A 12×12 stall opened into an individual ‘paddock’ about 12×24 feet. That paddock opened straight into a large corral. The corral was built the entire distance of the length of the stalls and paddocks. So, all that was needed was to open gates. The stall doors were about 4 feet wide, and the paddock gate was 12 feet. The large corral also had 2 gates on each end that opened up into large pastures. Fire exstinguishers were located on each corner of building and placed every 3 stalls…where there were small tack rooms. I love the way that stable was set up. The tack rooms did go from one side of the building to the other…like small alleyways…so you could cut through to the other side.
We never had ‘drills’. But there was a ‘fire plan’ set of directions of what to do. There was a phone on one end of the barn that rang directly to the MP’s [military police] office. You just dialed 0, reported, and then open all gates to the stalls. Believe me…if there had ever been a fire…we would have had more help than necessary!
There was also other buildings, and all had the same phone line to the MP’s office. That’s the only ‘fire plan’ I’ve heard of for stables…but that’s the only place I’ve ever stabled too.
As far as I know, there is no fire rescue plan. The only barn on my facility is a cinder block converted cow barn - so fire is not as much of an issue. There is wood built as stalls and hay in the barn, but the horses are almost never kept in. My horses have only a run in shed, on pasture board. Every time I hear about fire accidents or arson, I am glad my horses are out all the time and I do not have to worry about that.
You are right, not only should there be a plan, but there should be fire drills at least once every other month. If I ever own my own facility, this will definitely be the case.
References :
Nope ours doesn’t really. It’s all open (not in a barn, it’s on sand).
Let all the horses out of the stalls and let them all run.
References :
No, Not yet! I am still working on a barn plan! After I read an article in Horse magazine about the importance of that I got paranoid. It is great to have a barn plan and I hope more people get one!
References :
Incredibly, I can’t think of one barn I’ve ever worked, boarded or even been in that had a plan posted. And only two I can recall have "No Smoking" signs posted in visible areas.
(Once at my old boarding barn, a middle-aged guy came in looking for a job mucking stalls. As he sat waiting to speak with the barn manager, he lit a cigarette…as he sat right underneath the huge "NO SMOKING" sign. Guess who didn’t get a job that day?)
I wish more barns thought this stuff out and discussed them with their boarders. Posting a huge "BARN RULES" sign is always a good idea, too, and a fire plan can be worked into that. Funny (and scary) how many otherwise well-run barns neglect posing their rules, policies and emergency procedures!
References :
No i dont think we have one, next time i go i need to check that out. Hmm that is kinda weird how boarding facilities dont have one considering it is surrounded by huge trees and electical fences..
References :
our barn is completely fenced in, and our stalls have doors in the back.. so if there was ever a fire, nobody would have to go in the barn….just run around the outside and open the back doors to let the horses into the field.
we also have plastic covers over all our lights… so if they got hit for some reason the bulb wouldnt break
References :
my barn is a walk in stall s othe horses feel free to go in whne they want or leave
References :
well my barn has a safety/rescue plan
for fire
one of us gos and call 911 wall we all grab a horse and go to back right paster (we have 9 pasters ) and then go to back right paster and Wat
and for vary bad storm
the staff terns all the horses out and we all go to the tack room
References :
5 years of volatering
The only place I ever boarded…did have a plan…and the stalls and barn were built for it. This was on a military installation…so I guess it went with the territory.
The barn was built ‘inside out’. Instead of a central alley with stalls on each side…the stalls were back to back…and you just had to go on either side of the building to get to ‘your’ horse. A 12×12 stall opened into an individual ‘paddock’ about 12×24 feet. That paddock opened straight into a large corral. The corral was built the entire distance of the length of the stalls and paddocks. So, all that was needed was to open gates. The stall doors were about 4 feet wide, and the paddock gate was 12 feet. The large corral also had 2 gates on each end that opened up into large pastures. Fire exstinguishers were located on each corner of building and placed every 3 stalls…where there were small tack rooms. I love the way that stable was set up. The tack rooms did go from one side of the building to the other…like small alleyways…so you could cut through to the other side.
We never had ‘drills’. But there was a ‘fire plan’ set of directions of what to do. There was a phone on one end of the barn that rang directly to the MP’s [military police] office. You just dialed 0, reported, and then open all gates to the stalls. Believe me…if there had ever been a fire…we would have had more help than necessary!
There was also other buildings, and all had the same phone line to the MP’s office. That’s the only ‘fire plan’ I’ve heard of for stables…but that’s the only place I’ve ever stabled too.
References :
Our stables all open onto a small enclosed yard that has a ramp at one end leading to a fenced corridor up to the field. When the horses are in the field gate is always open so in an emergency let the horses out into the yard and they will take themselves up to the field out of the way.
References :
no we don’t, and its actually pretty scary since my horse is in an 80 horse facility. Also, the barns are separate, 20 horses each, so we dont "know" all the horses. There also isn’t enough paddocks to put them all in at once unless we doubled or tripled, and alot of horses can’t do that (mine cant) the barn is also next to a very busy (double yellow line) road (there is a gate but the horses can get past it) also, the barns are never horribly busy since people ride at all times of the day. i know Sundays when i work there I’m one of a handful of people who are even there.
its sad and surprising that we don’t have a fire plan, but in reality, there isn’t one that can be made. I could think for my 20 horse section, 8 could go in one of the large paddocks, then 3 in one small turnout, and there’s 9 horses who NEED individual turnout (they fight, viciously) and only three more paddocks. I can’t even imagine trying to get 80 out. (with only 20 small turnouts, 3 large, and two electric wire fence.
makes me think..
References :