Fire at Orford horse training facility causes hundreds of thousands of dollars damage

A fire which broke out at an Orford horse training facility on Thursday has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars damage, police say.

The owners of the facility, Anne and Eddie McGrath, along with their daughter Maureen and another employee were treated by ambulance officers for smoke inhalation.

The fire started in the stables area of the training facility about 2pm, the heat of the blaze causing the roof to buckle.

"It's upsetting and very frightening. I was backing out the 250 (ute) and it was on fire," Mrs McGrath said.

She said the damage did not involve her house and no horses were injured.

It took about 30 minutes for 12 CFA trucks and almost 50 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

Sergeant Pat Day, of Koroit police, said it was believed a compressor used to aerate a pond sparked the blaze by setting fire to rubber matting which then spread to the stables and contents.

Sergeant Day said it was fortunate the fire did not spread to the large shed next door which suffered extensive smoke damage.

He said the damage bill was expected to run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He said the main damage was confined to the stables and contents.

There were no horses in the stables at the time the fire broke out.

Article courtesy of Nine and The Standard