Charlotte Fire 10th anniversary

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - June 28 and June 29 are dates burned into the minds of many southeast Idaho residents.

Ten years ago, firefighters were trying to contain a raging fire destroyed 66 homes and charred more than 1,000 acres in Bannock County and Pocatello.

Thousands were evacuated but miraculously no one injured.

The human-caused fire was pushed by heavy winds into homes in the Charlotte and Mink Creek area.

More than 130 firefighters from the area and resources from across the nation were called in to help.  The fire was contained in just more than 24 hours, but it burned for about six days.

On this 10th anniversary, firefighters say we need to remember the Charlotte Fire and make sure we are ready especially if we live in the urban interface areas.

"We had we had fire departments from all over the state and all and wildland departments all over the country that were crews that were that were here to help us," Pocatello assistant fire chief Shane Grow said. "It just it was the perfect storm has moved so fast that we couldn't get ahead of it. It just would go through house after house and we were sitting like I was sitting in medical in my ambulance watching propane tanks pull up because it was just, you know, we we knew that if a propane tank blew up that the house next to it was probably going to we were going to lose that house too. The area is recovering and many people rebuilt."

But scars from the fire can still be seen even 10 years later.

The fire burned so hot in some areas that most things cannot grow.