'These women were amazing': Nearly 40 horses rescued from stable fire near Elgin

South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection District firefighter Jon Pollock had just finished his shift when he got a call at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday from his father alerting him to a blaze at a horse farm right next door.

A 4,000-square-foot storage barn next to a massive stable with about 40 horses inside was fully engulfed in flames, threatening to catch the stable on fire as well.

Pollock said he ran from his backyard, through the neighboring farm's pasture, and got to the stable as workers and the farm's owner were removing the horses from their stalls and directing them to safety.

"These women were amazing," Pollock said. "I couldn't believe what they were doing, because these horses were upset."

All of the horses were uninjured as South Elgin & Countryside firefighters battled the blaze that had begun to spread to the 27,000-square-foot stable and another storage barn at the farm on the 9N700 block of Nessler Road, fire officials said.

Pollock said he called the on-duty battalion chief to let him know that the horses were being moved to safety by the staff on site.

"It was, obviously, very upsetting for them, but it was like they had superhuman strength what they were doing moving these horses," he said.

It took more than an hour to bring the fires under control, but the blaze destroyed the first building to catch fire.

There were no injuries to firefighters or anyone at the farm, officials said.

The horses were moved to a nearby outdoor pen, but when that area became threatened by smoke and fire, the horses were released into a larger, fenced-off pasture.

The stable itself suffered only minor smoke and fire damage in the end, while a second storage barn that housed cars also suffered minor damage, fire officials said.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire, which caused roughly $1.5 million in total damage.

South Elgin firefighters were on scene until almost 10 p.m. and were assisted by firefighters from a dozen neighboring agencies.