Two buildings at the Old Dominion Hounds’ kennel complex at historic Henchman’s Lea just north of Orlean, Virginia were destroyed by fire in the early morning hours of Friday, February 7. No horses, humans or hounds were injured in the blaze, but two of the 125-year-old barns are a complete loss, according to hunt officials, along with stored equipment. An adjacent horse stable was saved when first responders soaked the structure, along with hundreds of bales of hay – fully stocked for winter, to stop the flames already scorching its wooden siding. The historic complex has been home to Old Dominion since 1941.
First to respond to the emergency were ODH Professional Huntsman Josh Bentley and whipper-in Casey Poe, asleep in the huntsman’s house just 20 yards from where fire broke out around 5:30 a.m.
“The house dogs were barking,” Bentley said. “I’d told them to shut up, but then Casey noticed the glow of the fire.”
They raced into the yard, Poe dialing 9-1-1 and her mother, ODH joint-master Kim Poe, while Bentley alerted Forrest Ashcraft and his family in the tenant house next to the large burning barn. Bentley said it was “already an inferno. It went up so fast.”
The hunt’s seven horses had been turned out the evening before so they safe in the pasture, but Bentley rightly feared the 60-plus hounds were in danger if sparks jumped to the wooden kennel lodge buildings across the courtyard.
“To be fair, the hounds were pretty chill about it,” Bentley said about how they handled it. “They’d started making noise, but they settled down when I got down there.” He was poised to spring open the kennel doors, he said, to turn them all together into the fenced exercise yard if the lodges began to burn.
“It was a savage blaze,” Bentley said.
Poe and Janine Ashcraft were hurriedly removing saddles and gear from the adjacent horse stable where reflected heat was beginning to singe the side closest to a small tack house burning between the two larger structures. “That was our fear,” Forrest Ashcraft said later, “that the horse barn would go up and there was tons of tack, so many horse blankets, everything in there.”
Orlean fire department was first on site; Warrenton, Amissville, Upperville, The Plains, Marshall and Little Fork also sent tankers and personnel.
Fauquier County Fire Rescue System battalion chief Rob Smith explained the timeline: the dispatch came at 5:31 a.m., crews were reported on scene at 5:36 a.m.
“The large barn was deemed to be a total loss at the outset with a constant wind” that had driven flames south into a smaller one at the center of the kennel driveway circle, Smith said. “That smaller barn, too, was consumed, (so) the concentration of personnel focused on preserving the (horse) barn, filled with hay and already beginning to suffer heat damage.” Flames were contained by 6:42 a.m., Smith said, though firefighters returned to the location throughout the day and the next day to extinguish hot spots.
“Fire is everyone’s worst nightmare,” said Old Dominion joint-master Les Moeller. “But as awful as it is to lose those two beautiful barns, and a lot of gear, we’re so thankful that no people, horses or hounds were hurt.
“We’re thankful for the rapid response of the Orlean fire department, and the others, and for Josh, Casey and Forrest and Janine Ashcraft for jumping to action. Neighbors, friends, hunt subscribers – everybody has been so supportive.”
Fire officials have not yet determined the cause of the blaze.
Old Dominion Hounds formed in 1924, first kenneled near Flint Hill but since 1941 based out of the Hinckley family’s Henchman’s Lea.
Albert Pope Hinckley served as Old Dominion joint-master 1947 to 1968. Hinckley’s granddaughter Douglas Wise was joint-master 1995 to 2015. ODH has leased the property – two houses, the two barns, the smaller tackhouse, kennel lodges and runs, plus several paddocks and pastures, since then.
“I pretty much grew up in those barns,” said Wise, who’s long served as ODH board chair. “Their loss is palpable. The barns date to 1900, built back when a 2 by 4 was actually 2 by 4. The cupola on top of that beautiful big barn was for so many decades a landmark for everybody riding or driving into Orlean.
“Those barns were so historic, so full of stories, especially the small (building) where so many local huntsmen and (staff) would warm up by the pot-bellied stove to discuss a great day’s hunting,” Wise said. “Old Dominion has been a community fixture for a century. We’re drawing together after this tragedy to move forward for another 100 years.”
The main loss occurred in the smaller structure, where Bentley had created an elaborate storage and organization system for dozens of tracking collars and Garmin displays. According to Kim Poe, it will cost ODH approximately $10,000 to replace the collars and tracking system.
The non-profit Old Dominion Conservation and Education Foundation supports local first responders, local charities and open space preservation efforts. The foundation is accepting donations to support a previously established kennel improvement plan. More details, including the hunt’s full history, photos and contact information, are at www.theolddominionhounds.com.
Here is information on how people can help: Donations are tax-deductible via the 501(c)3 Old Dominion Conservation and Education Foundation. Make checks out and mail them to Old Dominion Conservation and Education Foundation / PO Box 222 / Orlean, VA 20128. Or donate via Venmo – @ODCEF, or click this Jotform link — https://submit.jotform.com/250383079474160.
