District 2 shows unique perspective of McConnell fire response

KELLOGG — The McConnell Hotel fire was one of the scariest days in recent memory for the City of Kellogg.

But for a Kaela Bates, a firefighter for Shoshone County Fire District 2, it was a day full of mixed emotions.

“It was really scary,” Bates said. “We had just had a little girl walk up and say that a brick building was on fire and my first reaction was that it probably wasn’t, but I walked down to the corner by the library and there was the McConnell on fire.”

Bates, who was five months pregnant at the time, began going through the necessary channels to make sure that other agencies were notified and that extra support was on the way, and then she decided to head toward the fire.

“We already had one fire in Smelterville that day that our guys were still finishing up and I didn’t have my turnouts on and just hurried down there to see if I could the guys that were already there, but the heat was so much that I had to get back,” Bates said. “I was able to run down and get one of our other engines from our Sunnyside building and brought it back up, but after that they had me come back up here.”

Bates can remember being worried about the town she loved, but also disappointed that she was not able to be much help, except for running the radio back at the station.

“I was scared that with all of the conditions we had, the heat, the wind, everything being so dry, that all of Kellogg was going to catch on fire,” Bates said. “But as a firefighter, I was watching the biggest fire of my career happen and I couldn’t be down there in the middle of everything to help put it out.”

Bates instead manned the radios and was able to help rally some of the other local first responder agencies to help with their cause.

Bates was proud at the way the other agencies responded and at quickly they responded.

“Fire District 1 had a crew here almost instantly and they worked on the fire that had spread to Patrick’s because we simply didn’t have the manpower,” Bates said. “And then engines and crews from all over started showing up and we were able to get control of it before it got any worse. I think everyone did a really good job.”