POLICE are continuing to investigate a fire that left five horses dead and stables destroyed at the Leeton Showground on Tuesday morning.
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Emergency services were called to the showground at 4.10am on Tuesday to find a block of 16 stables alight and a number of racehorses trapped.
Five horses died in the blaze, with three belonging to Leeton trainer Philip Maguire and another two owned by trainer John Kefford.
A further four horses were taken to the CSU Equine Hospital in Wagga to assess their injuries after being treated at the scene by two veterinarians.
The stables are located on the golf course side of the showgrounds complex, behind Lin Gordon Paceway.
The blaze was extinguished, but the stable block was destroyed.
Leeton Fire and Rescue NSW had two trucks and two full crews attend, with firefighters racing to free the horses they could.
Captain Graham Parks described what he saw as "devastating".
"When we first arrived we noticed there were still some horses in the back, so we opened all the gates that we could and got as many out as possible," he said.
"We managed to get five out ... some of our guys burned their hands when they were trying to get them out.
"The horses were just panicked and bolting everywhere when they were let out.
"We had a truck at each end to extinguish the fire once we found a water supply.
"It took about half an hour to extinguish and two hours completely for it to be completely put out."
Leeton Fire and Rescue was called back to the stable blocks on Tuesday evening after some chaff started smouldering again.
Captain Parks thanked his crew for their efforts.
"It is part of your training to prepare for these sorts of situations, but it's just devastating for the animals and their owners," he said.
Forensic investigations at the scene this week are yet to determine the cause of the blaze after a crime scene was set up once the inferno was extinguished.
Cause not identified
POLICE investigations at the scene of Tuesday's stable fire at Leeton Showground wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon.
A cause is yet to be determined on how the fire started, according to Griffith Local Area Command Detective Inspector Paul Smith.
"Crime scene investigations were completed yesterday afternoon (Wednesday)," he said.
"It does take some time to do forensic examinations and gather samples.
"Our investigations are continuing and we'll be preparing a brief for the coroner because obviously this is a major fire."