Elkhorn fire destroys condos
Three firefighting teams contain structure fire.
By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer
Firefighters utilized the Sun Valley aerial tower to extinguish a fire Friday at Elkhorn that destroyed a six-unit condominium in Elkhorn. Photo by David N. Seelig
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There were no civilian injuries in an Elkhorn conflagration Friday that destroyed building CC at the Indian Springs condominium complex south of Village Way.
Dr. Karsten Fostvedt, a veterinarian, called 911 to report the fire at 5:41 p.m. Sun Valley Fire Chief Jeff Carnes arrived on the scene four minutes later.
Fostvedt ?was trying to fight it with a garden hose and almost knocked it down,? said Carnes, who was on his way to the Elkhorn pool when he got the call about the fire.
?I was just walking my dog, and I saw the fire on the porch,? said Fostvedt, who is a neighbor. ?It looked like someone had put fireplace ashes in a pot in the corner thinking it was out. I ran and called 911 and got my fire extinguisher.?
Fostvedt said the porch fire was 30 percent out when his fire extinguisher ran out and he started calling for more help.
?Nobody was home around there,? Fostvedt said. Eventually, Fostvedt found a garden hose, but said that the fire was beyond control for the little hose by the time volunteer fire fighters showed up. ?It was sad that we were not successful.?
Carnes said the building constructed in the 1970s burned quickly and did not have preventative fire attributes like sheet separations between walls required under modern building codes.
?The fire got into the chimney chase,? Carnes said. In addition to the deck the fire burned through three stories of the interior walls.
?When we got there the flames were in the attic and the roof was on fire,? Carnes said. ?The fire was so big I immediately requested mutual aid from Hailey and Wood River (Fire and Rescue).?
Carnes himself suffered some overheating and dehydration fighting the fire and was transported to St. Luke?s Wood River Medical Center where he was treated and released.
?My blood pressure is high so I went and got checked out,? he said.
Including the Ketchum and Sun Valley aerial tower and pumper number 10, ten fire-fighting vehicles and some 35 volunteers battled the blaze. The effort involved the use of the Wood River Fire and Rescue hook and ladder truck to help put out the fire on the three-story building.
Carnes said he also called in the BLM and U.S. Forest Service because he was concerned the hillside near the condominium could catch on fire. Only landscaping burned, however.
All the fire engines were back at the station by midnight, but some volunteers were kept on call in case of rekindled flames through Saturday.
?The building has eight units owned by six different people, but the building was totally empty,? Carnes said.
Two of the units had renters and one was owner occupied, but all three residents were gone at the time of the fire, said Carnes.
He also noted that there had been considerable risk to neighboring condominiums, but the help from the other fire departments was invaluable.
?A big concern was that the buildings were so close together. They are tied together with walkways,? he said. ?It was great help to have three other chiefs there to give you a hand.?
Ketchum Chief Greg Schwab, Hailey Chief Mike Chapman and Wood River Fire and Rescue Chief Bart Lassman were all on hand to help with the fire.
Carnes said the firefighters took great pains to keep the fire from spreading, but that they were unable to save building CC.
The official cause of the fire has not been found, but Carnes expects a report next week from State Fire Marshall Investigator Ivan Hibbert.
