Not the only one

OSBURN — The saying goes that life events, whether they be good or bad, come in threes.

Firecrews from Shoshone County Fire Districts (SCFD) one and two certainly had their experience with this saying Tuesday afternoon.

Many are aware of the McConnell Hotel fire in uptown Kellogg (which both of the previously mentioned agencies responded to), but what many do not know is that these crews were also in the process of fighting to two separate smaller fires when the call for the Kellogg inferno came in.

The first fire, reported at 1:53 p.m., had crews from SCFD2 responding to a refrigerated semi-trailer on fire near the old Sands Motel in Smelterville.

Upon arrival at 1:58 p.m., fire fighters found the insulated trailer and its large air conditioning unit engulfed in flames.

Mark Aamodt, SCFD2 fire chief, told the News-Press on scene that the trailer was empty at the time of the incident.

Crews quickly handled the situation and extinguished the flames before they could spread to any nearby structures or vehicles.

Aamodt explained that the official cause of the fire was insulation inside the trailer igniting.

This insulation sparked up when salvage crews worked to remove the attached refrigeration unit at the front of the trailer with power tools.

The fire then quickly spread through the trailer and also ignited the detached refrigeration unit.

Less than an hour later, fire crews from SCFD1 received a call at 2:46 p.m. reporting a structure fire at 714 Yellowstone Avenue in Osburn.

Four firefighters arrived at 2:31 p.m. and found that one side of the home’s door frame was on fire.

A good samaritan was also spraying the charred area with a garden hose in an attempt to limit damage.

The fire was quickly extinguished and after a full size-up of the building, it was determined that it had not spread to any other areas of the home.

Crews set up a ventilation fan on the side of the structure to establish positive pressure ventilation.

After initial investigations, SCFD1 believes that the cause of this fire was a cigarette that had been put out in a planter next to the door.

Officials are also looking into the possibility of faulty wiring being a factor.

Almost 30 minutes after this second fire in Osburn, the call for the McConnell Hotel fire came in at 2:59 p.m. and all local units were scrambled.

The cause of the uptown Kellogg fire is still under investigation and could take several weeks to complete.

With these three fires occurring almost simultaneously after one another, rumors have surfaced in the community that they all may be linked and/or started purposefully to spread fire crews thin.

According to local fire and law enforcement of officials, these rumors are completely false.

“There is absolutely no link between the three fires,” Aamodt said.

Darell Braaten, Osburn Police (OPD) Chief who responded to both the Osburn and McConnell fires, posted on the police department’s Facebook page to set the record straight.

“I would like to take a moment to discuss some rumors that are currently circulating regarding the fires in Smelterville, Osburn, and Kellogg yesterday. Several rumors are going around that because the fires were so close in time to each other, that these had been intentionally started.”

After a brief description of the first two fires, Braaten made it clear that “in no way does this look to be arson related.”

Considering the unfortunate timing of the fires, limited manpower, close building proximity, old structures, and less-than-optimal weather conditions- our emergency servicemen and women were put to the test that afternoon.

No one would doubt that without their hard work, the damage could have been much worse.

Bratten summed it up perfectly when he said that, “the emergency response to these fires were nothing but spectacular.”