Authorities say an eastern Iowa man has been injured while trying to save horses from a barn fire.

Firefighters were dispatched to the residence south-southwest of LaMotte a little before 8 p.m. Thursday.

LaMotte Fire Chief Joe Kilburg told the Quad-City Times hat a gate hit Duane Meyer in the face as he and his sons rescued some of the horses. Meyer was taken to a Dubuque hospital for treatment.

Kilburg says some of the horses died in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated, but Kilburg says he doesn't consider it a suspicious fire.