Fire at Rideau Carleton Raceway brings 'devastating' loss weeks ahead of season
Staff at the Rideau Carleton Raceway Casino are in a new kind of race — one against time — after a two-alarm fire tore through its paddock Wednesday night.
The loss comes only weeks before the start of the race season, scheduled to begin March 19.
"It looked like the fire had started into the back of the paddock here and the flames were oozing from there," said Peter Andrusek, the racing manager.
"It seemed like while the fire started in the back of the paddock, it just crawled along the centre beam."
Behind him, charred walls and blackened rubble remain.
According to the Ottawa Fire Services, it responded to reports of the fire at approximately 7:30 p.m. No animals or humans were injured in the blaze.
General manager Helen MacMillan said the flames could be seen coming up from the roof, with fire crews using an excavator to knock down part of the structure.
She called the paddock, where horses would be held before their runs, "the heart of the race."
"What we're thinking about is finding a temporary paddock," she said.
"And of course, we'll need all kinds of approvals to do that, but we want to do everything that we can to make sure the racing season continues."
She said they're still assessing the damage, its cost and waiting to hear more about what caused the fire.
But despite the blackened rubble before her, raceway staff are happy only infrastructure and equipment was lost. About 80 horses were staying at the raceway Wednesday.
The paddock is only used during race season, however.
"Just extremely grateful that no one was hurt. No one was injured. There were no horses," MacMillan said.
The loss is particularly devastating, Andrusek said, after the hit the industry took during the pandemic.
"I've been here for 30 years and I mean, this industry has dealt with many crises. And I gotta tell you, this is the most devastating," he said.
"You just feel so absolutely helpless."
But Andrusek called those who work with and around horses a "resilient bunch."
"We're gonna figure out a way to continue our race program because it's essential for them," he said.
"They have huge investments in their horses and in order to sustain this business they need to race."
