Whipped by wind, a wildfire of unknown origin raced up a ridge, destroyed 10 houses and damaged nine others Monday night in Southeast Boise, authorities said. Stunned homeowners turned on sprinklers, rescued pets and pictures and fled.
"It's a nightmare," said Chris Taylor, who evacuated her home on Immigrant Pass Drive.
But it could have been worse. Firefighters and residents attacked the blaze with water and brush-clearing equipment, stopping its advance before even more homes could burn.
The fire drew immediate comparisons to the 1996 8th Street fire, which burned nearly 15,000 acres and prompted the closure of part of the 37-mile Ridge to Rivers Trail system. That fire destroyed six bridges along Lower Hulls Gulch.
Monday's blaze began in a field of U.S. Bureau of Land Management land just south of East Amity Road north of East Sweetwater Drive shortly before 7 p.m.
As winds from a cold front gusted to more than 40 mph, the fire moved uphill to the south, toward Sweetwater Drive in the Oregon Trail Heights subdivision, where the first house caught fire at 7:10 p.m. The blaze quickly spread to a second house. Homes on both sides of Sweetwater burned. So did homes on Immigrant Pass Court, police said.
Meanwhile, a second line of fire moved east. A line of fire branched off the second line too, moving up the hill farther east, burning more houses.
The eastbound fire line approached the Homestead Rim subdivision, where residents using equipment blocked the fire's advance before firefighters arrived.
The fire moved from a wildland area to trees to arborvitae shrubs in people's yards, and then to soffits on their houses. Many homes had cedar-shake roofs that caught fire quickly.
"This was the perfect storm," Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan said. "We had high winds, high heat and shake roofs. It was jumping from roof to roof."
About 50 homes were evacuated, fire officials said. Witnesses reported hearing several explosions, possibly from ammunition and propane tanks in burning homes. Thick, black smoke obliterated views.
Taylor was at work when her son, a senior at Timberline High School, called about 7 p.m. and said, "Mom, the side of the ridge is on fire." He called back about 15 minutes later to say, "'We have to evacuate,'" Taylor said.
The Taylors were able to save photo albums, computers and their two dogs and cat. When their shake roof caught fire, Walt Taylor jumped up with a hose and wet it down shortly before firefighters arrived and took over.
"Wow. Crazy," he said. "Two houses behind ours just went up."
The Taylors didn't think their home was destroyed. They planned to spend the night at a friend's house and wait until morning to see the damage.
To the east, residents of the Homestead Rim subdivision acted fast when they saw the fire coming.
They got out equipment, including a brush hog - a mower that attaches to a tractor - and began clearing brush along the wooden fences that line the neighborhood.
When the fire advanced, they retreated, waited until the blaze calmed, and then tackled the fire again.
Brian McManus, a Homestead Rim resident who works at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, credited his neighbors with saving the subdivision. "They got that line in just in time," he said.
Firefighters then came and began cutting a larger line. Trey Glineski, who works for the BLM, drove a bulldozer and took out a wide swath of brush. "The guy went right through that fire with that thing," said Bruce Fast, a Homestead Rim resident.
Some families whose homes burned confronted their losses with a sense of gratitude for what they still had.
Lynda Robinson's two-story house on East Sweetwater Drive may have been the first to burn. She and her husband, Michael, built the house in 1990.
Robinson, an administrative assistant in the sociology department at Boise State University, was next door at a home-interior party. Her husband was at home, recovering from back surgery. Lynda Robinson was able to get their three dogs out of the house, and a neighbor helped her husband leave. Another neighbor drove their RV to the parking lot of a nearby Mormon church, to which the Robinsons belong.
On Tuesday, "I'm gonna visit all my neighbors," she said.
Christopher Lee and his family also live on East Sweetwater Drive. Their home also was destroyed. He had just gotten home from dinner with his five children to celebrate the first day of school.
Lee was able to get some paper files and his computer out of the house. He credited the Mormon Church's teaching of preparedness.
"We didn't lose anything that can't be replaced," he said. "We're gonna rebuild on the same site. I wouldn't move away from these neighbors for anything."
Jenifer Pfautsch knew she wouldn't be able to sleep Monday night, so she went to Trailwinds Elementary School, 3701 E. Lake Forest Drive, where people who were displaced were offered help.
She had been celebrating her birthday at home with her children when she noticed the dog and cat were acting strangely. Pfautsch opened the window, and smoke came in. They grabbed a few things, but had to leave the cat behind.
There are only two ways out of Columbia Village, and one was blocked off. At one point traffic wasn't moving, and that was scary, she said.
She wasn't sure what happened to her house.
"You never think when you live in a subdivision with 1,000 homes that you're going to be evacuated," Pfautsch said.
Some residents whose homes were spared were nonetheless emotional.
The Rowe family moved to a house on East Aphrodite Drive just 2 months ago. Monday evening Kari Rowe got a call from her real estate agent who said a house they had looked earlier was on fire.
Rowe was standing in her yard, watering down the house, when a firefighter walked up to her. He put his arm around her and told her they had a good line behind the house and that he thought it would be OK.
She burst into tears.
In other developments:
Power cut: Electrical service to 9,500 homes throughout the Treasure Valley was out because of the wind, Idaho Power Co. said. One transmission line that comes into Boise from Mountain Home was out because of the fire, but that did not cause any customer outages, spokesman Russ Jones said.
Firefighting resources stretched: Fire officials said all available Boise firefighters and equipment were sent. They called repeatedly for new supplies of water and oxygen for firefighters.
The Bureau of Land Management sent four engines and about 20 firefighters.
One fire truck was buried up to its axles after the driver unknowingly drove into a sink hole created by water used to douse the fire. Officials said about 41 fire crews were on the scene. Fire crews came from departments throughout the Treasure Valley.
Horses turned loose: Two horses that were grazing in the field were turned loose, said Jeff Rosenthal, executive director of the Idaho Humane Society. The society also offered to take pets from evacuated homes.
Officers inhale smoke: At least seven Boise police officers were sent to hospitals to be checked for smoke inhalation. The officers were evacuating people when they were overcome by smoke. All appeared OK late Monday night, a police spokeswoman said. One Boise firefighter was taken to a hospital with a cut.
Lodging offers flow in: More people offered lodging to evacuated people than were actually evacuated, a Red Cross spokeswoman said. Evacuated families were not expected to be let back into their homes until Tuesday.
Evacuated streets listed: Evacuations included homes on Aphrodite Court, East Homestead Rim Court, East Trekker Rim Drive, South Sweetgrass Place, South Hay Seed Way, East Lichen Street, South Adonis Way and East Flores Court.
Church offers help: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3800 E. Grand Forest Drive was offering shelter to displaced residents.
The church is accepting donations for the residents. Contact Bishop Craig Wagstaff at 343-4015 or wag@naiboise.com.
Michael Lyn Kitchen Moon, 54, of Twin Falls, passed away Friday, Dec. 19, 2008, at St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls.
