ISU student describes harrowing fight to save his house in Mountain Home fire

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (KIFI) – As a fast-moving inferno quickly engulfed 300 acres Tuesday near Mountain Home, one Idaho State University student rolled up his sleeves in a volunteer effort to repel the fire.

“It's like 40 mile-an-hour winds and that fire is moving fast," said Cody Rhatigan, a senior at ISU who was born and rasied in Mountain Home. "So we've seen that fire get really close to our house. The property right behind us, the barn started burning. So we thought it was going to creep over. We definitely thought it was going to get our house, but, thankfully it didn't.”

Firefighters were busy tackling flames on the other side of the highway, leaving Rhatigan, his father and their neighbors on their own to battle the fire.

“My dad actually on a tractor, drove down on the property right next to us and started just drawing a line with the tractor, and it stopped the fire from reaching our property. The fire unfortunately reached the property behind us," Rhatigan said. "It burned down a cabin and a couple other structures – didn't burn down his house, thankfully.”

The fight against the flames was a team effort.

“I went down the road to our other neighbor, our other neighbor's house, and got sprinklers and stuff and started helping them out, trying to keep the fire down, because down the road they were really getting close.”

One law enforcement deputy remains hospitalized Wednesday night, and five others were treated and released.

“I am pleased to announce that the deputy is recovering nicely and expects to be released from the hospital in the next few days," said Elmore County Sheriff Mike Hollinshead.

Idaho State Police Captain Michael Winans did not elaborate on her injuries but shared that she was injured after becoming trapped by flames while evacuating residents.

"The wind had shifted, and the fire came incredibly close to where she got trapped, basically – was unable to get out [from] where she was," he said.

No casualties have been reported from the fire.

The fire is 100 percent contained with crews continuing to put out hot spots.

“I gotta give big props to Mountain Home PD and, and everyone – all the first responders, BLM, Mountain Home Fire Department, all of them," Rhatigan said. "They they definitely came in clutch and saved a lot of our houses.”

While he didn’t place himself in that list of heroes, Rhatigan, his Dad and his neighbors’ efforts against the blaze also saved multiple residences from devastation.

Rhatigan will return to Pocatello this fall to finish his final semester studying journalism at Idaho State University.