In the Face of Flames Two Young Women Step Up When Seven Lives Are on the Line

Ashley Specht and Hadley Burrows were headed back home to Poteet, Texas after the Money N Beaches barrel race in Hamilton, Texas when their truck caught fire after colliding with another truck. The two girls were hauling seven horses at the time.

 Burrows tried to open her door and immediately was engulfed in flames. She suffered third degree burns on her entire right side, mostly to her leg and ankle. 

Adrenaline kicked in as the only thing she remembers is being yelled at to get out of the truck. Both girls, in crocs, crawled out of the driver's door.  They ended up each losing one shoe and the new “rig rule” is that they must be in sport mode! (LOL

)The rig had started rolling down the hill and without a suburban pulling in behind to stop it they were not sure they’d have been able to get any horses out. Both girls had fallen multiple times trying to get the ramp down and the doors open. The trailer ended up rolling over an eighth of a mile. 

While the first thought was to get the truck unhooked, Specht realized there was no time. With the trailer rolling and how quickly the flames were moving they had to get the horses out. 

Once the trailer had stopped they were able to quickly get all of them out. The horses trusted Specht with their lives, literally. They all went running into the field and many people stopped to help and catch them. The two girls, with the assistance of everybody who stopped, were also able to get everything out of the back tack room.

 While no horses ended up injured or burnt it was Burrows who needed to be attended to. She was transported to a burn center and had multiple surgeries. She will be mostly inside for at least the next month and going to the burn unit at least once a week to tend to her wounds. 

Specht has dealt with this tragedy through humor as a lot of us do, but on a serious note she thanks God for her horses being alive and well. “Both propane tanks exploded and no horses were harmed. He stopped that fire at the short wall.” says Specht. 

While nobody expects this to happen to them she had a little advice. Specht said you cannot think, you just have to do. Moving forward she will not tie horses in the trailer unless it’s to a tie release. She also stated that it is a good idea to keep your horse's halters tagged with your contact information. 

Her biggest piece of advice for those driving a truck and trailer is to remember to drive for the idiots around us. It will take a football field to get stopped and most don’t appreciate that fact. 

This could have ended up so much worse. The airbags deployed and if it had knocked them out, broken their nose, etc. there is no way they would have saved their lives. 

While most personal items were lost and the truck/trailer incinerated, they are still alive because they acted quickly. Instead of coordinating funerals they are coordinating with insurance companies because they acted heroically and quickly.