A community has been rocked after a fire at a farm killed five horses and destroyed a barn.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and officers from Merseyside Police were called to Rookery Farm in Rainford, St Helens, in the early hours of Saturday (March 19). Five horses were found deceased in the barn but no people were injured.
Police have established from further reports and examinations that the fire may have been caused deliberately. They confirmed today (March 23) that enquiries remain ongoing.
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The barn has now been condemned and the farm has had to close down. Debra Rigby, from nearby Billinge, spoke to the ECHO about the impact on the farm.
Debra, whose daughter has a horse that lived on the farm, is running a GoFundMe page to support the "Rookery Farm family" with unforeseen costs and the relocation of the horses, now that the building has been condemned.
She told the ECHO: "It’s definitely affected the whole community - more than just that. The amount of people that have got in touch through the GoFundMe from absolutely everywhere. It’s gone crazy.
"People are definitely rallying around the cause and everybody’s doing what they can. It’s no consolation, but still it helps with trying to rebuild what’s left.
"We are all like a family. So we’re trying to keep all the horses together and help all the people, just to make it that bit more pleasant."
Debra is hoping that her fundraising will allow the nine surviving horses to relocate to a new setting. She fears for the safety of the horses until a permanent home is found.
Ian Duke, who rents the stables, told the ECHO that a burn in the shape of a smiley face was found on a bag of sawdust in an adjacent building, which he believes was left by an arsonist. Debra also believes this is the work of an arsonist; who is "taunting everyone".
She hopes that the horses will be able to remain together and a new site for the farm will be found soon. She added: "Nine horses have survived and obviously, because the building has been condemned now and Rookery Farm has to close down, they’ve got to find new stables for the horses, which they’re in the process of sorting now.
"They think they have found a farm. It’s not a working farm, it’s basically a building site at the minute, but the owners of the land have agreed for all the horses to go down there.
"A lot of work needs doing on there, they need to sort the stables out, the fences need to be put up - there’s quite a bit of work that needs to be done for the horses to be able to live on it."
Over £1,200 of a £5,00 target has been raised so far. Debra hopes that as much money as possible can be raised, to: "try and get something back for them from what they’ve lost".
You can view Debra's fundraiser and donate by clicking here.
