Barn fire kills seven horses, leaves family to rebuild boarding business

COMMERCIAL POINT, Ohio (WCMH) - A fire at a Commercial Point property destroyed a barn and killed seven horses, and now the owners are left to pick up the pieces.

Firefighters were called just before 6:30 a.m. Thursday to the home near Commercial Point Road. The barn, owned by Bill and Diane Capretta, was home to their horse boarding business.

"It means everything to me,” Bill Capretta said. “It's where I do my horses every day. That's why we live here. I raised my family here. It's my life.”

Capretta recalled the moments that are now burned in his memory.

“I was still in bed,” he said. “It was 6 o’clock, and my neighbor here was going out the driveway to go to work, and he saw nothing. No smoke, no nothing. Normal morning. And ten minutes later, his wife called and said, ‘Bill, your barn’s on fire.’ I'm thinking, OK, I can maybe get some of the horses out, but the whole hallway was already engulfed. I couldn't even get in there, you know? And, so, yeah, it was pretty, I don't have a word for it at this point. It was devastating. You just saw your whole life go away from you that you've done for 30 years.”

Capretta is a retired Columbus Police Officer; he served as president of the police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, for six years after that. Working as a police officer for three decades, he learned very young that he needed an outlet. That outlet became horses.

"I've been doing it since I was 24 years old,” he said. “I needed something to offset whatever I did. And I kind of like the cowboy life and, you know, I just, in the country life for sure. It was a great break and relief because I worked the street for 25 years on the late shift, on what they called paddy wagons or ambulance cruisers. So, we took all the, the bad runs and stuff like that. And, but when I came home, I wasn't all hung up with it. I had something else to go to.”

In his retirement, Capretta boarded horses for other clients. All seven horses that died in the fire belonged to clients.

"I know all my boarders personally and I knew it was going to affect them; for a couple of the girls, one was 23, I was 13, these girls love their horses,” Bill Capretta said. “They live for them, and it's no different than if they lost a family member.”

Both Bill and Diane Capretta are retired and now fight various health issues as well. The boarding business was a major source of income for them, and now it's gone. The community has already stepped up for them. 

“The family would like everyone to know what a humbling experience this has been,” Kendall Capretta, their daughter, wrote. “When you’re from a farm town, it could happen to anyone. We can’t thank the community enough for banding together to help at a time like this. Friends, and even strangers. Neighbors from miles down the road we’ve never met, rushing here with their equipment to help. Pick'Em Up Joe Coffee Co. in Commercial Point donating their profits from Saturday. The Summer Market in South Bloomfield, taking donations. It’s been so special to see, and we couldn’t be more grateful. They’ve truly shown us what ‘community’ means.”

"When something bad happens, they all show up, you know, because most of them are farmers and they understand, that's country living. It was amazing," Bill Capretta said.

Scioto Township Fire Department and at least two other local fire departments were on the scene to put out the blaze, returning twice over the following days to extinguish hotspots. The question that still weighs heavily on Capretta, though, is how did the fire start?

"The fire inspectors have been here,” he said. “They don't really know. When I saw the fire, it was in this right-hand corner right here. My hay was clear back in another barn and there was no new hay. It was brought in, that was all, been there all winter. So, they really don't know. All my electric was in conduit. It was put in right. It is very frustrating. You just have to assume something like that happens because it usually is either hay or electrical, because it went so fast. I mean, it looked more like electrical fire, you know? And I just don't know.”

Now the Caprettas are considering their next steps.

Capretta said he's gone through so many emotions since the fire, but he thinks there's still a path forward, with all the help from the community and his family.

"I'm 78 years old,” he said. “I start over, you know? Well, why not? I'm still here, you know, but I got to figure out how I'm going to do it because this is all going to be cleaned out. I got to build a new barn and start all over again. And, long as the good Lord keeps me here, I might as well do something. My goal at this point is to rebuild.”