ROSEVILLE – Horse heroes took control in Roseville Thursday evening as firefighters battled a 40-acre vegetation fire that was closing in on a neighborhood along PFE Road and Watt Avenue.
Source: CalFire
The flames were too close for spectator Tristan Hamm, who watched the fire spread straight toward a barn filled with about 30 horses.
That’s why he took action.
“This field behind the barn was all on fire. Smoke just ripped into the shed. Those horses were just covered in smoke,” Hamm said. “I ran over and peeked over the fence [a worker] said, ‘Please help me.’ “
Hamm and his friend Travis Nunes, who lives just a block away from the fire, entered the barn to help move the horses to safety. They were met with scared horses and a barn filled with smoke.
“That barn is filled to the brim with hay, I noticed that right away. If even one thing flew into the barn, it lit up in seconds,” Hamm said.
Neighbors also came to the aid of the two men.
“Immediately my friend Travis started going from house to house trying to get people to come over,” Hamm said.
One by one, Hamm and Nunes quickly helped harness the horses and had neighbors lead them out of the barn to safety on the street.
Source: Tristan Hamm
They kept a close eye on them as firefighters approached the flames.
The fire brigade was able to extinguish the fire just before it reached the building where the barn was located.
“The community is so close and the people are so good and everyone helped. It was just great to see,” Hamm said.
Hamm is a professional boxer and social media influencer from Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada. He also owns an adventure company Revived Outdoors. He happened to be in the area staying with Nunes when the fire broke out.
‘It was meant to be, in the right place, at the right time. The barn didn’t burn down, the horses are all good. But they were still in danger from the smoke,” Hamm said.
He thinks they did the right thing and is happy that neighbors also came to help.
With fire season in full swing, he hopes it’s a reminder to take the reins when it’s safe and lend a helping hand where possible.
Employees at the stable declined to be interviewed for this story on Friday, but confirmed that all horses were safely back inside.
Cal Fire and Placer County firefighters were able to fully contain the fire Thursday evening just after 8 p.m
No one was injured and no buildings were burned.
