'I heard them. Stomping their feet in there': Nine horses die after a barn fire in Otterville

Rubble after a barn fire near Otterville. Police say nine horses died. Feb. 27, 2016. ( CTV Kitchener / Allison Tanner )

Ontario Provincial Police say nine horses have died after an early morning fire in Otterville.

Police say the blaze started around 4 a.m. at the Darkin Riding Stables.

Emergency crews arrived to find the barn engulfed in flames.

The blaze woke Whitbourne Henderson up.

“I can hear like something popping, popping, popping,” said Henderson.

He said he called 9-1-1 multiple times.

“45 minutes for them to reach here! I kept calling, I kept calling, I kept calling.”

Henderson says he tried to go to the barn, but a thick wall of smoke met him at the door.

“I heard them. Stomping their feet in there. Stomping their feet … and I couldn’t help them.”

“They’re not just horses, they all had a special part in our lives,” said Darlene Kinnear, owner of Darkin Stables.

Kinnear said the stable was her dream and five of the horses belonged to her.

She said she moved to this location in January and had bought insurance, but it wasn’t going to start until March 1^st.

The stables are also a part of the St. Thomas Elgin Mental Association, because the horses had a calming effect, according to Kinnear.

Kinnear estimates her loss is $50,000, most of which was equipment.

“Replacing my horses would be immeasurable to me at this point,” said Kinnear.

"I would rather remember them last night when they were all happy and getting treats and kisses and hugs before I left for the night," she said.

Police say the fire is not suspicious.