On April 5th, 2011 at about 5:00 am, the main barn of Oasis Farms was devestated by an out of control fire started by a heat lamp that was located in a newborn calf's stall. By the time the fire was seen, the entire front portion of the barn, which housed 16 horses was completely up in flames. The permanent stalls along the side of the arena were beginning to be consumed by the fire when Frank, Sarah, and Deb arrived on the scene. Frank heroically ran from the back of the barn down the aisle way to the point where he identified the first horse that was still alive. From that point on 13 horses were removed from the barn one by one and placed in different locations: paddocks, trailers, round pens etc until the last horse was safe from the fire. During the removal of horses, firemen from several departments arrived on the scene and stood watch over the family, ensuring their safety and assisting where they could, as the owners made their forays into the conflagration. As soon as the last horse was removed the firefighters opened the hoses and doused the flames.
Of the 13 horses that were removed from the barn, 3 suffered injuries. Ten others had absolutely no damage at all. The wounds MeMe (Oasis Astronomy, AHR 601518) suffered necessitated her being euthanized shortly after her escape. Rose (Oasis Irish Rose, AHR 641960) suffered burns from her forehead to the dock of her tail and Peanut (Oasis C Ya N Hollywood, pending) suffered a severe wound to his rump. After assessment by Dr. Dave Krausher, it was determined that Rose would best be treated at Rood and Riddle in Lexington, KY. Peanut remained at Agri-Pet Veterinary Service until Friday. Please see their pages for updates on their health.
Immediately upon hearing about the fire, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and complete strangers converged upon the farm and began immediately cleaning the debris. The heavy equipment started working as soon as the fire inspectors left and has not stopped since. Donations of feed, hay, supplies, equipment and money have contnued to arrive. The Crosby-Noll family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this trying time. It has been that which has sustained them.
An account has been established at US Bank under 'Oasis Farms Fund' to help the family. Deb has lost 30 years worth of training and showing equipment. Frank lost all of his tools, welding equipment and farrier supplies. They both have damaged hearts.
We will be posting updates as information changes. We will also be working on an In Memorium page to identify those horses we lost. Please join us on Facebook (Oasis Farms Fund) to have real time updates and see pictures of some of those we lost. Feel free to share any memories that you might have as well.
