4 Horses safe after Gurnee barn fire

Four horses were temporarily evacuated Tuesday afternoon when the Gurnee barn they were kept in caught fire, authorities said.

Crews responding to the fire about 12:40 p.m. moved the horses a safe distance away while they put out the flames, which struck a fence and the barn on the 35800 block of Barberry Lane, Gurnee fire Lt. Joe Arnold said.

Flames burned the siding of the barn up to its roof, but firefighters from Gurnee and Waukegan extinguished them before any of the barn’s contents caught fire, Arnold said. The fire was put out by 1:30 p.m. and the horses were not injured.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Arnold said it does not appear to be suspicious. Embers from another outdoor burn may have sparked the fire, he said.

Workers at a business on Lee Avenue saw the barn on a residential property to their north was on fire and called it in, Arnold said. Damage is estimated at $2,000.