TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Fire officials say 15 horses have died in a fire at a boarding stable in Washington state.

Flames and dense smoke prevented stable owners and firefighters from rescuing the horses Thursday night at the Eckstein Farms stable near Summit, southeast of Tacoma.

Chief Doug Willis of Central Pierce Fire & Rescue says the horses were all in their stalls. Willis says firefighters “tried to get them out.”

Jeremy Eckstein, who works on the farm with his family, says family members couldn’t get into the barn because of the dense smoke.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.