Quick response helps quench Kingston fire
Lt. Abe Hanna with Shoshone Fire District #2 pulls a fire hose closer to a fire that was burning in a Kingston scrapyard on Thursday afternoon. The fire is believed to have started in the scrapyard and spread up the hillside seen in the background.
Courtesy photo
KINGSTON –– Emergency crews responded to a fire near a Kingston residence on Thursday afternoon.
The call came in just after 3 p.m. that a fire had broken out in a scrapyard at the end of Cattail Lane and had spread to the hillside below Riverview Drive. Crews from Shoshone County Fire Districts #1 and #2 responded along with a team from the Idaho Department of Lands to combat the blaze.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but the point of ignition appeared to be within a pile of old vehicles and scrap metal on the premises.
Embers from the fire did ignite another small blaze in the brush along a nearby driveway, but that was quickly contained and put out.
SCFD1 Chief John Miller was thankful for the quick response from all the different agencies, especially given the difficulty of the terrain, and navigating the piles of scrap metal.
“The crews did a great job working together,” Miller said. “Especially with three different agencies and multiple handling around the fire. Fire runs uphill quickly, and we got lucky.”
Miller also said that recent cold, wet weather likely played a role in slowing the fire.
“Thankfully, we were able to keep it from spreading to other structures or jumping the road,” Miller said.
No one was injured and IDL is working with local fire marshals to investigate the cause of the fire.