Brush fire smokes through ranch
Close call for Bellevue homeowners
By MICHAEL AMES
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An explosive brush fire raced through Rattlesnake Canyon in Bellevue Monday afternoon, narrowly missing a family home near Cove Ranch, east of Gannett Road.
The fire, caused by welders working on an irrigation pivot, screamed through the canyon located between Griffin and Cove ranches and had not been contained as of noon Tuesday, although fire bosses predicted full containment by 5 p.m. At least one ranch worker was treated for smoke inhalation on Monday as the fire began its march to burning approximately 400 acres of sage and grassland.
The towering column of smoke was visible to many of the Wood River Valley?s residents as it billowed above the horizon during the evening rush hour. From the north, the plume had the appearance of a cumulus cloud. From up close, the darker smoke from burning sagebrush, dried weeds and grass was plainly visible.
Jeff Nevins, assistant fire chief of Wood River Fire and Rescue, received the fire call at 4:20 p.m. Monday afternoon from irrigation and Cove Ranch workers already fighting what was quickly becoming an uncontrollable situation.
?They were Johnny-on-the-spot,? said Nevins of those who called in for help and fought the flames before the firefighters? arrival.
Though Fire and Rescue was on the scene ?within one minute of the call,? one worker had already been overcome by smoke inhalation and was promptly taken to St. Luke?s Medical Center. Upon arrival, Nevins recalled seeing flames in excess of 20 feet tall.
By 5 p.m., the fire continued to intensify and approached the home of Roger Lato, 49, who, along with his wife Marie Stewart Lato, 49, and their son Jeremy Lato, 15, had evacuated the house along with their three retrievers, Turbo, Sadie, and Ana.
?I thought it was a just a controlled fire on the ranch,? said Marie Lato. ?Then my son Jeremy yelled ?No, it?s a huge fire and headed right at the house!??
As the fire-line grew in intensity, the home seemed destined to be engulfed in flames. Firefighters surrounded the structure and took precautionary measures, treating the surrounding land with a fire retardant foam and preparing to fight the encroaching fire line with water.
With flames within 100 yards of the house, a confluence of factors?including wind, retardant treatment, and the Latos? exceptional wildland fire precautions?changed the direction of the fire, sparing the home and forcing the fire east into the canyon.
?Between the efforts the homeowners put forth and the efforts our guys put forth, the house didn?t burn,? said Nevins, who also conceded some help from the changing winds.
Though extremely grateful for the help of everyone working on scene, Marie Lato was disappointed that landscaping efforts already hindered by ?dogs, deer, and weed whackers,? had been suffocated by a blanket of fire retardant foam. She was amazed, however, at workers who left other job sites to come and save her house, ?out of the sheer kindness of their own hearts.?
A U.S. Forest Service helicopter, diverted from a controlled burn, flew for roughly two hours performing pinpoint water drops before sunset finally forced the pilot to the ground for the evening. The water was accessed from a privately owned Bellevue ski pond on East Glendale Road.
Nevins applauded the mutual aid shared by all Blaine County Fire Departments with engines coming in from Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and an offer for an engine from Carey. The county, perhaps assured by a wet and cool summer, has had few chances to come together for such an explosive brush event this fire season.
?At an estimated 500 acres, this was the largest fire we have seen all season,? said Sky Buffat, public affairs Officer for the Bureau of Land Management?s South Central Idaho Interagency Dispatch Center, the body responsible for 3 million acres of public land extending from the state?s southern border to the southern Wood River Valley.
From 1990 through 2000, the South Central BLM averaged 150 fires a summer with 90,000 acres burned. This summer, the figures are much lower, with 80 fires charring just more than 1,000 acres, Buffat said.
For the Latos, this was the second close call with fire in six years. Lato?s last home, in Hailey?s Della View subdivision, also flirted with fiery disaster during the 1992 Roe Fire. The Latos now find themselves thankful yet again.
?It?s certainly lucky it didn?t get us, but it?s only a matter of time before this kind of thing threatens homes all over the valley,? said Lato, a home builder by trade who had made certain to build his Bellevue home in strict accordance with Idaho BLM guidelines.
For the family who avoided disaster twice, the only sore spot was Jeremy?s unfinished homework trapped inside the house.
?I think he has a good excuse if he doesn?t get it done,? said one onlooker.
