Ellis Park, in conjunction with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, is collecting donations to help the trainers whose horses were killed in the barn fire at Riverside Downs training center on Thursday in Henderson, Kentucky.

The fire killed 27 horses and destroyed equipment belonging to trainers Benjie Larue, who led three of the surviving horses out of harms way during the fire, Kenny Miller, Kim Nesbitt, Jerry Joe Greenwell, and Shirley Greene.

Donations are being accepted at Ellis Park's general office. People interested in making a monetary donation via credit card should call the track at (812) 435-8906.

The Evansville Courier-Press reported a fourth horse that escaped the fire had to be euthanized due to severe burns.

The fire detroyed the barn.

State investigators told the Courier-Press that the fire originated near the electrical service meter base and panel.

"No specific material could be identified as the ignition source," the Kentucky State Police said in a statement. "There were no signs of arson."

"It's just a terrible thing," Jack Hancock, a manager at Riverside, told the Courier-Press. "The worst thing a horseman could ever hear is the word 'fire.'"

Trainers who boarded horses in the barn were

The blaze was the third fatal fire at the Thoroughbred boarding and training facility over the last five years.

In January, six horses died in a fire that investigators blamed on a vending machine’s electrical cord.

In December 2003, 22 horses died in a fire that was found to have started from a heat lamp or heat bulb.

The grandstand of the former Quarter Horse and Standardbred racetrack was set on fire in November 2005. Four people were arrested and charged with third-degree arson.