Friday, December 29, 2006

Fire destroys south county home

Homeowners escape Wednesday night inferno


By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

Emergency response crews continue to clean up Thursday after a fire destroyed a house south of Bellevue Wednesday night. The initial call came in at 9:41 p.m. and the fire was declared under control?which means it was contained to an area and unlikely to spread?roughly two hours later. ?Most units left at 3 a.m., although we did have a crew there all night,? Wood River Fire and Rescue Chief Bart Lassman said. Photo by David N. Seelig

Cleanup crews on Thursday were mopping up after a fire that destroyed nearly all of a 7,000-square-foot house in the Bellevue Triangle Wednesday night.

Firefighters from five different regional agencies responded to the report at 9:41 p.m. of a structure fire on Eastfield Road, south of Bellevue.

Wood River Fire and Rescue Chief Bart Lassman, the incident commander on scene, described what transpired.

"It was actually a chimney fire that got into the attic. The people had gone to bed, when they heard a knock at the door."

Lassman said he has not identified the person who woke the two homeowners; he is believed to be a neighbor who is a firefighter with another organization, who noticed that the chimney chase was on fire.

"When the unit arrived the fire had already spread to the attic and up into the ridge beam that spans the roof. The whole thing was coming out of the Boston, which is like a small roof over the roof," Lassman said.

Lassman said the fire burned 6,000 square feet of the 7,000-square-foot home, but crews were able to save the three-car garage and mother-in-law apartment over the garage.

"The main part of the house is a total loss," he said. "It's either heavily damaged or a total loss."

Crews from Wood River Fire and Rescue, Hailey, Bellevue, Ketchum Rural and Carey responded to the call. Lassman said the reason so many outfits were summoned is that Eastfield subdivision has no fire hydrants.




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