About 65 people now unemployed after warehouse fire

It is a somber night for some in Ucon, just a day after Christmas.

Crews responded to a fire at the Snake River Plains Potato Warehouse around 12:40 a.m., Monday.

Captain Mike Henderson, of the Ucon Fire department, said fire started in the mechanic shop of the warehouse.

Crews are still trying to put out a few hotspots from behind the warehouse, which is the hardest part for them.

It is safe to say the warehouse is a total loss.

About 65 people worked at the warehouse and now they are unemployed.

Jairo Serna, who has been an employee for about three years there is sad to see it go.

“It’s kind of overwhelming, I guess. You go to bed and you think that you know, you got a job the next day and suddenly someone tells you, ‘Well, it’s all gone’. There’s not really anything there for you’,” Serna said.

Serna was in charge of sales and shipping. He said he got the news from a text from one of his friends. He was hoping it was not true.

“I don’t really know what’s going to happen with, you know, if they’re going to get anything going again or, I mean if they’re not basically all I’m doing is go and look for something new,” Serna said.

He said even though he is out of a job, he feels more for the employees that have worked at the warehouse for more than ten years.

“You know, you hope that they can figure something out, if they can’t get that warehouse going again but or in a new location at the same place but you know, you kind of feel for them because it’s all they’ve really known for so long, so many years and you know you just hope the best for them,” he said.

One of the owners said he is working on an alternative working space and hopes to keep all of these people employed.

The state fire marshal said determining the cause and the cost of the damage could take days because a lot of the people are out for the holidays.