Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fire tears through Bellevue house

No injuries reported in Monday incident


Flames consume a guesthouse and garage on Fourth Street in Bellevue Monday. Bellevue Fire Chief Greg Beaver said the flames were knocked down in about 20 minutes. Photo by Steven R. Houts

A house fire that broke out midday Monday in downtown Bellevue consumed a guesthouse and garage, and partially burned a larger home next door.

The cause of the blaze at 120 N. Fourth St. is still under investigation. No injuries were reported.

"Luckily, the wind was blowing in the right direction," said one firefighter on the scene.

Bellevue Fire Chief Greg Beaver said the fire was reported by Bellevue resident Ken Mast, and that emergency personnel were paged at 12:47 p.m.

Beaver said Bellevue firefighter Pat Rainey and his crew were on the scene at 12:53 p.m. Rainey served as incident commander for the first hour and 15 minutes before turning the incident over to Beaver.

"It was knocked down in about 20 minutes," Beaver said.

The Bellevue Fire Department responded with two engines and 10 firefighters. The Hailey Fire Department also responded, with nine personnel and two engines, and had four engines standing by in Hailey. Wood River Fire & Rescue responded with 12 personnel and three vehicles, with six standing by at other stations. The Ketchum Fire Department responded with six personnel and one engine.

Lt. Curtis Miller of the Blaine County Sheriff's Office said he was having lunch at Mahoney's restaurant on Main Street when he responded to the call and provided traffic control. He arrived on the scene while Bellevue Fire Department and Hailey Fire Department personnel were fighting the blaze.

"It seemed like a difficult fire to battle because of the heat," Miller said.

The residence is owned by Steve Gutches. Reports indicate the guesthouse was rented out to a tenant.

The Idaho state fire marshal was investigating the scene of the blaze Tuesday. Beaver said a full report could be available later this week.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




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