State of Emergency Declared To Help Fight Fires

Three fires in the Chubbuck-Pocatello area kept fire crews very busy Monday night.

A brush fire prompted the evacuation of people on the Fort Hall Reservation, and fire crews also responded to a fire on Satterfield in Pocatello and then to a fire on Yellowstone Highway in Chubbuck.

Bannock County Commissioner Howard Manwaring said a state of emergency was issued because of the fires. The declaration help give emergency crews the necessary funds and resources to fight the fires, if needed.

The Fort Hall blaze was at the end of Siphon Road and destroyed one home. Four people who were trapped in a car were treated for smoke inhalation. One was taken to Portneuf Medical Center and the other three were treated on site.

Search and rescue and fire crews, including the Chubbuck and Fort Hall fire departments, were on the scene.

Shortly after Fort Hall fire was reported, neighbors living on Satterfield were helping fight the flames with garden hoses. No one was evacuated because of the fire, but some people were kept from returning to their homes if they weren’t there when the fire started. The fire appeared to be mostly smoldering at about 6:15 p.m, and the Bureau of Land Management and Pocatello Fire continued to mop up hot spots.
While crews were battling those two blazes, in Chubbuck, a fire started burning abandoned buildings and cars in a salvage yard behind the 5-Mile Inn on Yellowstone Hwy.

Two abandoned trailers were destroyed as well as some miscellaneous objects that filled the yard, said Chubbuck Fire Chief Eric King.

Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said he doesn’t know how the fires started, but thinks they were all man-caused. He is not sure if they are connected or just a coincidence they started nearly the same time.