Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Fire and car accidents keep EMS hopping on Halloween


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Blinking like hyperactive fireflies between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Monday night, lights attached to the breathing apparatuses of area firefighters flashed and bounced as the first responders extinguished and mopped up a fire on the exterior of a small business in McHanville, south of Ketchum.

Smania Furniture Finishing Inc.—located in the Cold Springs Industrial Park, between Highway 75 and St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center—remains intact with some structural roof and smoke damage, said owner Robert Smania. The fire debris included blackened paint buckets and soggy wood that was chopped off the building during the attack on the fire.

The fire was one of several Halloween mishaps Monday, including a haystack fire in Bellevue and a rollover accident at about 7 p.m. on Baseline Road south of Bellevue that resulted in hospitalization of several members of a Gannett family of seven.

Police said the single-car accident occurred, according to witnesses, when the driver of a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban swerved to avoid dogs in the roadway.

"Four children are in stable condition," said Tanya Keim, community relations manager for St. Luke's. The parents and a fifth child were released from the hospital after they were checked for injuries.

"Everyone is going to be fine," said Bruce Bowers, the father of the family.

Ketchum Fire Chief Greg Schwab said soon after everyone from the car accident was transported to the hospital, first responders were called to the furniture shop fire. He said the events occurring in such a quick sequence were a good test of automatic aid protocols between different fire departments in the Wood River Valley.

Ambulances and fire-engine sirens were heard up and down the valley during the prime trick-or-treating hours.

As firefighters overhauled the scene, checking for unseen hot spots in the singed roof structure of the business, two life-flight helicopters standing for the Baseline Road car accident patients were released at about 10:20 p.m., when it was cleared that no one would need transport to Boise.

Although it was a busy night for emergency response crews, the commotion around the hospital Halloween night was most heightened for the neighbors.

"My dogs started barking. From my doorway I saw the flames that started in the rag cans," said Diana Anida, whose travel trailer is some 50 feet from the corner of the shop space owned by Emil Capik, where lacquer finishes and other refinishing materials are stored in various containers. "I called 911. Everything I have in the world was at risk."

The industrial area also is home to electric, concrete, plumbing, cabinetry and auto repair and other technical businesses, none of which suffered any damage. However, an electrical transformer mounted on a pole near the fire was destroyed. Schwab said witnesses observed flames extending 15 feet above the transformer pole.

"We still don't have power," Smania said Tuesday morning as he showed where some smoke had seeped into the building and breached windows. "All we can do is clean up."

During the fire response, Highway 75 traffic backed up as police let only one lane of traffic pass the scene of the fire at a time.

In addition, at about 9:15 p.m. a minor vehicle crash occurred between the Mountain View Grocery Store and Elkhorn Road, near the scene of the fire.

"Traffic was backed up during the fire," said Ketchum Police Public Information Officer Kim Rogers.

A 1991 Buick Regal rear-ended a 2003 Pontiac Sunbird, which in turn collided with a 2005 Toyota Corolla.

Rogers said the driver of the Buick is still wanted by police after he left the scene of the accident and "left his buddy in the back of the car."

"We're still looking," Rogers said. "We know pretty much where he is."

Back at the fire, as the scent of acrid smoke began to fade, firefighters tied up the scene, covering holes in the roof with plastic and securing the area to be inspected by private investigators for insurance companies.

"They're real curious about how it started, it being Halloween," Capik said. "Think about how lucky we are it was confined to that little area. The quick response by (the firefighters) and gas and electric (workers) makes you feel pretty good."

Capik said in that in the future a new place away from the building may have to be found for Smania to store refinishing compounds.

Ketchum Fire Department Captain Miles Canfield estimated that Ketchum Engine No. 1 pumped about 1,500 gallons of water on the fire.




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