DEPEW, N.Y. (WBEN) – The owner of the barn that caught fire on September 20 that killed 14 animals is speaking publicly to thank the community for their support and to give more information about how the fire started.
Martin Snyder, whose family owned the S&L Ranch on Broadway Street for decades, lost the barn after an overnight fire. Twelve horses and two dogs died in the massive fire. He believes that the fire was caused by a faulty electrical outlet in the barn where he plugged a heat lamp in the night.
“It didn’t work and then all of the sudden it started to work,” Snyder said. “That’s my guess at it.”
Of the 12 horses, four were his own stallions. The others were boarded there.
“All my mares were out in the pasture,” Snyder said. “My two dogs were in there and they were never in there. I’m heartbroken about my dogs more than anything. My two dogs were as different as peanut butter and jelly. But when they were together….They tangled with a skunk and I wasn’t about to let them in my house.”
Abber and Holley were the two dogs. He described the two dogs as if they were his own children.
“There wasn’t much I could say and I think they all understood that,” Snyder said. “It was something that happened. It was something that I guess everything could be avoidable.”
That’s a burden that Snyder will continue to have to live with. However, throughout the entire tragic ordeal, Snyder said he never realized how much both he and his barn have meant to the Depew community. Hundreds of people have donated to a Gofundme page and raised more than $12,000.
Snyder said the money will be used to help rebuild the barn, something he thought he would never do.
“Quite honestly, the next day after the fire I thought this was the handwriting on the wall and I would go on with life and do something else,” he said. “I’ve got people coming in my driveway with tears in their eyes that I’ve never met. They said ‘We hope you’re going to rebuild. Here’s $20 or $10.’ I had an older couple that was in their 70’s and the wife is wheelchair bound. The husband says my wife has something for you. I walked up and she handed me an envelope.”
That envelope had $500 in it.
“What do you do?” he said. “She said I just loved horses and that’s it.”
Though Snyder has come under some criticism after it was discovered that despite boarding horses, he never had insurance. He said he used to have it and even contemplated building another barn because the business was strong. However, in recent years business has slowed and he’s thought about closing the barn and took the step of ending insurance as one step.
“I plan on erecting another barn,” Snyder said. “I don’t think the community will let me leave. That’s probably the biggest reason (why I’m building a new one). The outpour from people when they come and hand you money and say I hope you’re going to rebuild. I never thought I meant so much to the community. The only thing I would like say is that I’d love to thank the fire departments that were here.”
He said he hopes to get that process going as soon as he can. Snyder was told there’s interest from the Amish community in Pennsylvania to rebuild the farm.
A more pressing concern for Snyder will be taking care of his seven mares that survived the fire because they weren’t in it. He was in critical need of feed and hay because he lost it all on the fire, though he’s putting a hold on that because he now has plenty of supplies.
He has little in the way of housing for the horses minus a concrete shed that can only house three or four.
“I’ve got a couple people that are interested in buying a few of them,” he said. “I’ve got people coming from other stables that say they have room and to bring them there. I’ve got people who have a whole barn that I’m welcome to use. I don’t want to scatter horses all over the countryside.”
Cleanup of Snyder’s farm was done thanks to Angola-based Tree Team, who dedicated hours of volunteer work to help clear debris left by the tragic fire.
Dawn Bulinski, who lost her horse, Scire, in the fire, said she was glad that Snyder will rebuild the farm.
“This is a big staple in the community,” she said. “All my customers have come in and said ‘Oh my god, the barn is so relaxing. We pull up in our cars and we watch the horses and go golfing next door…’ There’s just a tranquility.”