Nearly 30 horses died in an overnight barn fire in Jackson County. It happened around 10:30 Tuesday night at Campbell Stables on Hayball Road in Grass Lake.

The barn, once filled with life, is now a graveyard. Twenty-seven horses lay in their stalls. The raging flames have become painful silence.

"It was like a tinder box, it was like someone just lit a whole bunch of matches at once and the whole thing went high," neighbor Rob Dunkley said.

Dunkley was driving past the stables when he saw the fire. He called 911 in a panic, but says the barn was engulfed so quickly there was nothing anyone could do.

"You could hear the horses crying and kicking, so that part was really devastating," Dunkley explained.

Firefighters and employees tried to save the animals but were pushed back by the flames. One employee suffered burns in the effort. He was taken to University of Michigan Hospital's burn unit.

As for the horses, one was able to kick free of its stall, but it never cleared the barn doors. Every animal inside died.

The stable's owner says the loss is too fresh to talk on camera, but she did tell News 10 the 27 horses are irreplacable. She says her remaining horses are pulling her through.

While half of Campbell Stables is now empty, she says it's a blessing the fire didn't reach her other two barns. Between those and the horses penned outside Tuesday night, she still has about 60 animals left.

"Pulling up it was a great relief to see horses on the property, knowing that they didn't lose everything," Dunkley said. "But what they lost was just.. just tragic."

The stable's owner says because the horses are defenseless, every barn has a watchman who guards them overnight. She says unfortunately, in this case, even that safeguard couldn't save them.

The Campbells don't know why the barn burned so quickly or what caused the fire.

Firefighters are still investigating, as the stables press forward, for the horses left behind.