Tungarra Stud

This is a copy of an article that I wrote for a magazine which will give the history of the fire.

Recently, I along with my daughters & friends attended a show. We had all had a very enjoyable day & were traveling home when I noticed a small amount of smoke in my rear vision mirror. I pulled over as soon as possible thinking that I had blown a tyre. I walked down the driver's side looking at the float wheels & seeing that they were okay I started around the back of the float. To my absolute horror the back of the float was ablaze.
In the time that it took me to get to the back of the float, friends with whom I was traveling had pulled up & Lucy had started to frantically double barrel the tailgate. I immediately set to getting the ramp down & friends went to untie the ponies. Unfortunately due to the smoke they could not find where the ponies were tied, so we had a frantic dash to change places, because although I could see nothing in the smoke I knew where the ponies were tied.
Friends & an unknown man managed to get the ramp down, Lucy had broken the breaching chain in her panic but she would not back off into the fire. I honestly don't remember what I did to convince her to back off (it seemed to take forever) but once I got her moving I let her go as I still had to get Bo (Springwood Superbrat) off. As I backed Bo out, who amazingly was not hurt, I could see Lucy galloping up the middle of the highway
with her hindquarters fully ablaze, a sight I will never forget.
I handed Bo to someone (one of my daughters I think, there are lots of blank spots) & started running with a friend, after Lucy. Needless to say it was Lauren who caught her, as my running skills are on a par with my writing.
We put her out running back to the car where I had water & started attending her burns.
While we were giving chase, Bo had been thoroughly checked & a vet had been called (thank god for mobile phones).
The roadside scene, on reflection was quite a circus with police, fire brigade, ambulance, and people everywhere all of whom were great with the exception of the ambulance officers, who just could not understand my point of view in that I would not leave my ponies or children or friends to cope with the lot
The cause of the fire is still a mystery, although several theories have been put forward. None are very logical with perhaps the exception of it being a friction fire. All we know for certain is that we had been traveling for about 2 hours (including loo & fuel stop where the ponies where checked) & that the fire had started inside the float, high up on the driver's side wall at the back, which explains why only one pony was burnt.
Lucy suffered horrendous burns to her whole rump, minor burns to her ears as well as being minus her eyelashes.
Had I been carrying a fire extinguisher (as I do in the truck) we could have put the fire & Lucy out & her injuries would not have been so bad.
It's a hard lesson learnt. Carry a Fire Extinguisher when towing a float.
I would like to thank people for getting the ramp down so quickly, Lauren for her running prowess & catching Lucy. Brenden & Bill for finding another float & getting us all home. Yes both ponies walked straight on. Gayle Powell for her invaluable advice on treating burns.
And mostly to Lucy herself for her unbelievable trust in people and for not kicking me to the moon & back when I dressed her wounds. As I am sure she would have loved too.
Although we won't know the full extent of Lucy's injuries for a while, she is coping well and still remains the wonderful bright little pony that she has always been.