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The discovery of a herd of wild horses burned to death in a Chilcotin forest is a grisly reminder of the potential impact of this summer’s wildfires on wild animals.

Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation said Thursday that eight adult and two young horses died when fire swept through a lodgepole pine forest off the Nemiah Valley Road. The scorched carcasses were photographed earlier this week by Xeni Gwet’in rangers.

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William described the site as the “back end” of the Hanceville-Riske Creek fire, which, as of Thursday morning, had burned 232,301 hectares of the Chilcotin. The region’s Plateau fire is even bigger at 467,462 hectares.

The fire had been burning fairly harmlessly for a few weeks, then on Aug. 12 cross-winds caused it to rev up and almost instantly burn a stretch of about six kilometres near the road, he said.

“It was instant. The horses were blocked in. They had no chance. That’s what we figured happened. There may have been other horses, moose and deer caught up, too.”