Fire destroys Wallace home

WALLACE — A Buena-Vista Heights home in Wallace has been declared a total loss after a fire ripped through it last Thursday.

Shoshone County Fire District No. 1 Chief John Miller said that at approximately 1:33 p.m., fire crews were notified of a possible structure fire when initial reports to dispatch indicated that "smoke was rolling into town" and it "smelled like a house fire."

Upon arriving at the scene, units were met with heavy dark smoke and flames coming from a home on Buena Vista and advised this would be a "working fire."

A working fire is any fire requiring the use of an extinguishing agent or the removal of a burning object from a structure.

"Crews were met with multiple obstacles, dealing with steep slick terrain and adverse weather conditions," Miller said. "The fire was in an area that no apparatus could access."

Firefighters were forced to start their main hose lines at the bottom of Buena-Vista Heights, near the Interstate 90 overpass and the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, and manually lay roughly 600 feet of them up to the affected residence. A UTV was also utilized to move equipment and personnel, as the area's grade and weather conditions made it impossible to get any fire apparatus to the scene.

In addition to the home, a single outbuilding was lost as well before fire crews were able to quell the blaze. While no human injuries were reported, an unknown number of house pets are believed to have been killed.

Miller said the cause of the fire and point of ignition remain unknown at this time, but an Idaho State Fire Marshal will be furthering the investigation.

Additional units and personnel from SCFD No. 2, Mullan Volunteer Fire and SCFD No. 3 responded to the incident as well.