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Bonners Ferry wildfire forces evacuations Posted: Thursday, Jul 21, 2005 - 08:41:06 am PDT By ELIZABETH CIEPIELA Hagadone News Network
BONNERS FERRY -- A raging fire just north of Bonners Ferry forced Boundary County commissioners to declare a state of emergency Wednesday as an army of firefighters and volunteers struggled to contain the flames and evacuate the 25 residents who wanted to go. Four homes, as well as horses and livestock were evacuated, but none were consumed in the flames, which were reportedly sparked by a train and spread by northbound winds.Fire crews placed at each house prevented three homes from being engulfed in flames, said Boundary County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Tim Day. One firefighter was taken to Boundary Community Hospital for unknown injuries, where he was treated and released.
"The heat of the day tomorrow will be the telling time," he said. A fire line was completed on the west flank and firefighters were nearly finished digging one on the east by 9 p.m. Roads kept flames in check to the north and south of the fire. The firefighting effort shut down one northbound lane of Highway 95 to give fire trucks and other first-response vehicles room to park. About 60 people from all Boundary County fire agencies and Idaho Department of Lands crews assisted in fighting the fire, which was reported at about 1:45 p.m. Airplanes dropped flamed retardant while two IDL helicopters dropped water on the fire. Volunteers helped fight the fire, too. See FIRE, Page 3 Despite aggressive efforts to contain the flames, by 5 p.m. a plume of smoke blanketed the east side of the hill west of Highway 95 north of Bonners Ferry. "When I first saw it, it was torching trees and moving up (the hill) pretty quickly," North Bench Chief Heidi Van Dyken said. Van Dyken said she assumed the fire started at the bottom of the hill off County Road 60 near the railroad tracks and moved up. Idaho Department of Lands incident commander Jim Kibler said reports initially indicated 100 acres were burning, but firefighters on the ground said it was more like 40-50. People who live near the railroad tracks say they know a passing train started the fire. Union Pacific representative John Bromley could not be reached for comment by deadline. Leatha Lockhart, who lives right off County Road 60, said she witnessed the train on the Union Pacific Railroad pass by as it headed east. "I was in the pasture ... and I just finished mowing and this train that was unlike any other train I heard, with huge black plumes coming out, came up the road," Lockhart said. "It passed and then I saw smoke down here and I was thinking 'Well, that's weird, that would have dissipated by now.'" Lockhart said she is positive the train sparked several brush fires that soon raged out of control. Other neighbors saw brush burning after the train passed and called 911, Lockhart said. Some of them stayed to help out. Bonners Ferry residents Chris Hoover and Levi Falck hiked into a thicket of trees and attempted to contain the fire with an extended garden hose and a rake. "We pulled up on it when nobody was here," Falck said. He estimated that was about 1:30 p.m. Philip Sweet was logging when he realized the woods were on fire, so he drove his skidder to his neighbor Roland Hall's home to see what he could do. After Sweet helped his neighbor, the North Bench Fire Department asked him to help dig a fire line. "I was watching it burn and I heard the sirens. I thought they were on it already," he said. Staff writer Lucy Dukes contributed to this story. POST YOUR OPINION
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Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.