A portable heater is being blamed for a barn fire that claimed the lives of more than a dozen horses in Tallmadge, Ohio.

Tallmadge Fire Chief Patrick Gaffney said fire crews responded to a 911 call reporting the fire at Mindale Farm on Jan. 8. When crews arrived, the barn was totally engulfed in flames, he said. Fifteen horses ranging from 2 to 20 years old died in the fire, Gaffney said.

“There was no way to get the horses out,” he said.

Gaffney said a portable heater located outside the barn and used to heat the horses’ water was blamed for the blaze