17-year-old charged with arson for Pocatello house fire

A 17 year old male juvenile has been charged with arson in connection with a house fire Thursday. The Pocatello Police Department said the boy’s name would not be released because of his age. No other details were available.

The Pocatello fire department controlled a fire at 951 N. Arthur early Thursday morning.

Flames were showing when firefighters and police arrived shortly before 8 a.m. One side of the duplex suffered smoke damage while the other side was extremely damaged.

Idaho Power Company crews were also summoned to help deal with a downed and sparking power line.

Arthur Street and Custer Street were closed for a couple of hours due to fire hoses.

A woman who lives at the residence said she was very scared, but she made it out in time.

Fire Chief David Gates said the duplex had two roofs on it, causing firefighters to have to peel up the roof to get to the flames stuck between the old and new roof.

“It just made it very complicated to get to the extended fire up in the attic space,” Gates said. “The fire did expand in the attic space, so when you have two voids, it’s hard to get to the lower void.”

Gates said investigators view the fire as arson, as someone at the fire claimed to have purposefully started the fire. Pocatello Police were on scene to take over interviewing the person. It’s an open investigation, so they will not be releasing much information.