Fire destroys Willow Brook Stables, groomers
MIDDLESEX TWP — Ron Filipiak stood next to a pasture uphill from the remains of Willow Brook Stables on Sunday morning, just 12 hours after it was razed by fire.
“Both my daughters have worked so hard building this business up, and there it is, all in ashes.”
As the wood and hay still smoldered, he was clear about what his family needed to recover: “Prayers.”
Over the course of Sunday, the proud but devastated dad learned the community around the stable had more than prayers to offer.
The outpouring of support for Willow Brook Stables started early — arriving with neighbor Karla Horanic, who brought doughnuts for the volunteers — and continued throughout the day.
Butler County 911 said the fire was reported at 10:25 p.m. Saturday. The late-night, three-alarm fire leveled the barn housing horses and a nearby pet grooming business, Apple Hill Pet Grooming, both located at 400 Route 228.
Dozens of firefighters from 10 departments in Butler and Allegheny counties battled the blaze for more than four hours Saturday night into Sunday morning.
According to neighbors who were on scene Saturday night, flames quickly engulfed the barn. Horanic was among those who rushed to help.
“It was just so God-awful,” said Horanic, who lives nearby and rushed to the farm with her daughter to see how they could help. “I smelled smoke and looked out my window and the sky was ablaze.”
A GoFundMe page for the stable already had reached nearly $29,000 of its $35,000 goal by Sunday afternoon.
Kristi Airgood and Katie Filipiak, who operate the stable, watched efforts to help them recover from customers, horse trainers and concerned neighbors. Volunteers were scrambling to help, offering shelter, transportation and supplies.
“It was devastating. It was absolutely devastating,” Horanic said. “But it was amazing how many people were there to help.”
Kimberly Giannamore of Zelienople, who trains horses, came to donate feeding buckets to the stables and was not surprised by the support Airgood and Filipiak were receiving.“The horse community's awesome because they'll come together,” she said.Area businesses also stepped up to the plate, as Mars Agway — normally closed on Sundays — opened from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accept donations. Katie Niklewicz, manager, said the store would deliver a “truckload” of donated supplies on Monday and continue to accept donations for as long as Willow Brook needed.The devastation from the fire was extensive, impacting Willow Brook, Apple Hill Pet Grooming and both businesses' customers. The two businesses were destroyed by the fire. While no person was harmed, five horses — and possibly a cat and pig — died.“The horse was my daughter's love. It was her purpose,” Robert Marti of Mars said of his family's mare, Mac, who perished in the fire.Heartbreak extended beyond humans, too.“The saddest part, in addition to all of this, is how confused they (the living horses) are,” Katie Filipiak said as she readied horses to load them onto trailers. “There's no way to explain it.”The 20 surviving horses boarded with the stable were sent to a temporary farm Willow Brook will be using in West Deer Township, Allegheny County.“We just want to get these horses to somewhere we can take care of them,” Ron Filipiak said.Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company did not return phone calls over the weekend regarding the blaze.Officer Conrad Pfiefer, of the Middlesex Township Police Department, said an investigation likely will continue Tuesday.No damage estimates were available.
