TOMBALL – Waleed Alrashid spent Monday thinking about the horses that couldn’t be saved from the fire that ruined one of his barns.
Their names, personalities and quirks are just some of the things Waleed never will forget. Especially, Spender the Pony, his four-year-old daughter’s favorite.
“I can’t even explain it because it’s all feelings,” said Alrashid, owner of Royal Sports Horse Complex, located on the 21400 block of Mueschke Road, near FM 2920. “To be honest, I didn’t even tell her yet. I can’t. I can’t. What can I tell her? I don’t think she can handle that.”
According to the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, the cause of the fire was electrical.
Alrashid said firefighters told him a transformer that supplies electricity to the barn blew, sending sparks along the powerlines that lead to the facility. Five agencies responded to the fire, which was reported at around 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 27.
Kevin Lowe, chief of Rosehill Fire Department, told KPRC2 a total of five fire departments responded to the call. He said crews were met with multiple challenges, including the rush to save horses.
“There’s no water in the immediate area. We had to use tankers to bring the water to us to fight the fire,” Lowe said.
Crews were able to rescue six horses, according to Alrashid, who praised first responders for risking their lives to do so.
“Everybody was crying and opening the doors for the horses,” he said, adding it was hard for him to call clients to share the word of their horse’s loss. “That was really the hard part, calling someone and telling them what happened to their horse.”
Alrashid said he has insurance and will rebuild the barn that burned. He said the surviving horses were moved to other barns on the site.
He said the heartbreak over losing five horses remains because of the bond they share with humans. A bond he said won’t ever be forgotten.
“It’s stronger than human to human because it’s all feelings,” Alrashid said.