Devastating Fires in Bancroft Destroy and Awaken

APOCALYPTIC SCENES ON MAIN STREET 

Bancroft residents and volunteer firefighters were called to action in emergency fire response last Friday and Saturday, as flames tore through the town unexpectedly. 

The fire that started the somewhat apocalyptic scene in Bancroft began at the home of Ellis and Elizabeth Call. According to Elizabeth, she and her husband were burning cardboard in a fire pit behind their home, in response to requests/orders from the City of Bancroft to clean up their property. Unfortunately, that day came with a wind advisory with gusts blowing up to 45 miles per hour. 

At around 2 PM, the Calls finished burning their cardboard, put the fire out and stepped away briefly, during which time the fire reignited and spread to the entire back porch. The flames quickly engulfed their home as area residents worked to assist the Calls in exiting safely, calling in area fire departments for support, and anxiously working to establish water defenses themselves. Propane tanks and artillery exploded, the house collapsed in on itself, power lines were being burned, and the flames grew in size and ferocity. It was a somber and humbling scene. 

3 PM: About an hour after the Call’s house fire began, a commercial building north of their home and across the street, started burning as fire debris flew to the property in the windy weather conditions. 

That building belongs to James Ackerman and is filled with vehicles, tires, fuel and other random items. The flames grew in intensity as locals scrambled to split their firefighting resources between the two ongoing fires, and the scene grew more intense. The fire at the commercial building spread toxic black smoke from the chemicals of the rubber, fuel and car parts, that made fighting the fire even more complicated as it burned your eyes and made breathing and seeing more difficult. The flames spread to the lot next door to engulf more vehicles and debris. Those flames eventually burned the back porch of an apartment building under renovation. 

4 PM: As crews worked to get both fires under control onlookers notified firefighters that yet another home was beginning to emit smoke out of its roof, this time due to the ongoing extreme temperatures hitting it for the past 2 hours, as it is located directly downwind from the Call’s home. This second home ablaze is owned by Karen Koefed. 

Yet again, fire crews were spread out to fight the three ongoing blazes. Thankfully more firetrucks and area fire departments arrived on scene to handle the growing spread of flames and eventually established a perimeter to the emergency efforts, having onlookers removed from areas of danger. Caribou County, Soda Springs, Grace, Lava Hot Springs, Bear Lake and Bancroft crews and area residents were all battling the fires shoulder to shoulder. 

By 6:30 PM the fires were mostly extinguished with fire crews dousing the scenes to ensure the melee would finally come to an end. 

During the ordeal residents were encouraged to stop using water in order to preserve all water resources for firefighting. Power to the city was turned off due to the fact that power lines and power poles nearby the fires were being burned as well. Rocky Mountain Power arrived on scene amongst firefighters to address dangers presented by flames on or near power lines. 

Farmers descended onto the scene with their water storage tank trucks and brought resources to the area to extinguish additional spot fires that started periodically, defensively protecting surrounding buildings and properties from fire danger. A crop dusting airplane also joined the tumult, dropping water over the fires that seemed to evaporate in the wind before it was able to make a real impact in fire suppression. 

During the craziness of fires spreading throughout town, wind gusts snapped off the top of a large tree at City Hall which fell in front of the building, obstructing access to the inside from the front entrance. In response, volunteers were instructed to remove technology and paper files from City Hall, for safekeeping in the event the fires jumped to that building as well, as it was downwind and one building away from the commercial building that was on fire. 

Neighbors immediately began gathering clothing donations for people who lost their homes, have been caring for pets and farm animals of those affected families, donated cases of water and drinks to sustain fire crews during the fiasco, and fought fires themselves for 4+ hours. The Grace, ID LDS stake presidency provided pizzas for volunteers and firefighters to replenish themselves with. Since Friday, a GoFundMe page was set up to collect financial donations in support of the Call family in their time of need. 

On her Facebook page, Elizabeth Call shared these words of thanks on Monday, June 23rd: “ I cannot thank those that have kept us safely in their prayers, enough. Thank you for your support, there are too many to mention. Unsung heroes bearing each other’s burdens. God lives and loves us all. Thank you.”

Several of the properties were uninsured, and all of the ones engulfed in flames were a total loss. 

This is especially impactful because all three structures had historic significance to the area: the Call’s home and Koefed’s home were some of the first homes to be built in Bancroft, and the Ackerman’s building was used as a movie theater decades ago. 

SATURDAY’S HOUSE FIRE

Much to the community’s surprise, another house fire occurred the following evening around 9:30 PM on Saturday, June 21st. Billy Chacon was reportedly burning some papers in his wood burning stove when the chimney in his home caught fire and spread through the top level of the house. Again, area volunteers and neighboring fire departments responded to the call for help and eventually extinguished the flames, with the help of some heavy equipment that was brought in to literally raise the roof off the side walls supporting the home, in an effort to get water directly onto the flames inside. 

CITY & LOCAL RESPONSE

According to Mayor LuCus Spencer, “It is a tragedy that we lost three  homes and a commercial building, but to me the key component to all of this is how the community came together to help each other. Fire departments from surrounding communities came to our assistance in our hour of need, and Bancroft residents are especially grateful for the relationships we have with our neighbors in Caribou, Bear Lake and Bannock Counties.” 

Public sentiment following the Friday fire catastrophe has been complicated. Concern and care for their neighbors after such a dangerous and devastating loss is coupled with frustration and anger about the occurrence of the fires to begin with. 

City officials have reportedly been in a consistent back-and-forth legal tug-o-war with the Calls for years in an effort to have the family clean up what they deemed a health and safety risk to the community; a collection of materials that the family has over time accumulated and stored inside the house and throughout the property. A few years ago the Calls received a formal judgement in an area court requiring them to remove some of the of debris and collectibles from their property to comply with city ordinances, which they did. However, the accumulation resumed and over time the house and yard were filled once again. 

“This has been something that the community has anticipated for decades. There needs to be some accountability for the parties who started these fires because this emergency was totally preventable. Their (the Calls) home was basically a matchbox. With an excessive amount of fuel sources in the house and around the property, including propane, ammunition, wood, and a hoard of stuff, this was bound to happen eventually. The fact that the fire spread to other peoples’ property shows the risk this type of lifestyle poses to the community at large,” said Katie Hatch, a Bancroft local. 

City officials are working to amend existing city ordinances in order to grant the City more influence and enforcement authority regarding property maintenance standards, all in an effort to uphold better cleanliness conditions throughout Bancroft. These measures are intended to avoid these types of fire emergencies in the future, with the City having the ability to issue citations and fines to those who refuse to comply with the ordinances. 

In addition to the tragedy and loss, these recent fire emergencies have been a wake-up call for area residents. Mayor Spencer said an unexpected outcome of the recent fire emergencies has been increased recruitment for volunteers of the Bancroft fire department. At the time of the fires there were only six people volunteering. Since the fires, four new volunteers will be joining the force and undergoing trainings soon. However, four new recruits isn’t enough to meet the obvious demand. 

“If you’re going to respond to fire emergencies anyways, please just sign up to be a volunteer firefighter. Let us get you fitted for the proper protective equipment, teach you where the hydrants are and how to connect hoses to them, and educate you on how to operate the fire truck. We love the community’s generous help; let’s just train better as a group so we can respond more swiftly and coordinate our efforts better should another emergency like this occur.” To join the department please contact City Hall at 208-648-7648.

A final reminder from the Mayor was for residents to clean up their yards. “Remove weeds and garbage from your properties, move flammables away from your home, make sure your smoke alarms are working and that you have adequate insurance coverage on your property. Lastly, create an emergency evacuation plan with your loved ones so people know what to do and where to go in case of an emergency.” 

It seems the moral of the story is this: residents are bound to repeat this tragedy if they don’t learn from it, and make positive changes that protect their town, their own homes, and their neighbors.