Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Lilac fire survivor comes to the races

Joe Herrick's horse Achieved finishes last, but that's not the point

Joe Herrick had second degree burns over 23 percent of his body.
Joe Herrick had second degree burns over 23 percent of his body.

On December 7, 2017, horse trainer Joe Herrick said, “Hell came to town.” Herrick was was involved in trying to rescue 450 thoroughbred horses caught in the raging Lilac fire through Bonsall’s San Luis Rey Training Center. He lost six of his eight horses. The final death toll was 46 horses perished in the tragedy.

Video:

Horses in panic at San Luis Rey

Lilac fire, Dec. 7, 2017

Lilac fire, Dec. 7, 2017

On July 25, in Race #5 at the Del Mar track, Herrick appeared to the racing public for the first time since he suffered second degree burns over 23 percent of his body, with the running of one of his horses, Achieved. (Achieved was not at the training center during the fire.)

After the fire, Herrick spent 12 days in the UCSD Burn Unit. “I’m still healing,” he told me, as he walked around the Paddock with his horse, along with jockey Diego Sanchez. “But I’m feeling great today.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
One of his horses bolted and ran back into the stall to perish.

Herrick had left the property when the Bonsall fire started up canyon, near I-15, around 11 am. They had watered everything down. “What we didn’t count on was the 80–100-foot palm trees being lit up like Roman candles, shooting flames in 60 mph winds.”

They retuned to the property around 2:00 p.m. to try to release the horses from the burning buildings. Having already received burns on his hands, face, back, and head, he watered himself down with a hose, he went back in to rescue more horses.

One of his own horses, he pulled out of a burning stable. Then the horse bolted and ran back into the stall to perish. “The stall is their security,” explained Herrick. In the wild, animals’ running back into a fire are usually in shock.

During an after-race interview trackside, he couldn’t recall some of his horses' names that perished. Herrick said his memory was a little foggy over exactly what happened during the incident.

“All I really remember is being in the burn center with my eyes swollen shut,” said Herrick. “They [doctors] said I’d have to have be there for months and get skin graphs.”

“The scar tissue wants to contract,” said Herrick. He makes his right hand into a fist, to keep the skin flexible.

Herrick was one of two that were injured in the December fire. Fellow horsewoman Martine Bellocq is still in the hospital. “She may never fully recover,” Herrick said.

Though Herrick’s horse, Achieved, came in last in a field of eight, jockey Diego Sanchez seemed proud to be riding for Herrick, celebrating Herrick’s recovery.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Kaylee Daugherty, Pinback, Chorduroy, Moondaddy, and Mr. Tube & the Flying Objects

Solos, duos, and full bands in Mira Mesa, Del Mar, City Heights, Little Italy, East Village
Joe Herrick had second degree burns over 23 percent of his body.
Joe Herrick had second degree burns over 23 percent of his body.

On December 7, 2017, horse trainer Joe Herrick said, “Hell came to town.” Herrick was was involved in trying to rescue 450 thoroughbred horses caught in the raging Lilac fire through Bonsall’s San Luis Rey Training Center. He lost six of his eight horses. The final death toll was 46 horses perished in the tragedy.

Video:

Horses in panic at San Luis Rey

Lilac fire, Dec. 7, 2017

Lilac fire, Dec. 7, 2017

On July 25, in Race #5 at the Del Mar track, Herrick appeared to the racing public for the first time since he suffered second degree burns over 23 percent of his body, with the running of one of his horses, Achieved. (Achieved was not at the training center during the fire.)

After the fire, Herrick spent 12 days in the UCSD Burn Unit. “I’m still healing,” he told me, as he walked around the Paddock with his horse, along with jockey Diego Sanchez. “But I’m feeling great today.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
One of his horses bolted and ran back into the stall to perish.

Herrick had left the property when the Bonsall fire started up canyon, near I-15, around 11 am. They had watered everything down. “What we didn’t count on was the 80–100-foot palm trees being lit up like Roman candles, shooting flames in 60 mph winds.”

They retuned to the property around 2:00 p.m. to try to release the horses from the burning buildings. Having already received burns on his hands, face, back, and head, he watered himself down with a hose, he went back in to rescue more horses.

One of his own horses, he pulled out of a burning stable. Then the horse bolted and ran back into the stall to perish. “The stall is their security,” explained Herrick. In the wild, animals’ running back into a fire are usually in shock.

During an after-race interview trackside, he couldn’t recall some of his horses' names that perished. Herrick said his memory was a little foggy over exactly what happened during the incident.

“All I really remember is being in the burn center with my eyes swollen shut,” said Herrick. “They [doctors] said I’d have to have be there for months and get skin graphs.”

“The scar tissue wants to contract,” said Herrick. He makes his right hand into a fist, to keep the skin flexible.

Herrick was one of two that were injured in the December fire. Fellow horsewoman Martine Bellocq is still in the hospital. “She may never fully recover,” Herrick said.

Though Herrick’s horse, Achieved, came in last in a field of eight, jockey Diego Sanchez seemed proud to be riding for Herrick, celebrating Herrick’s recovery.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Codename Stasis found its format at SDSU

Local zine tells a magical local story
Next Article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader