Bancroft Post-Fire Follow-Up 

Photos shared by Tuckoda Lish

It’s been a busy week in Bancroft as clean-up efforts ensued after several devastating fires burned through Main Street last week, leaving 3 structures significantly charred or entirely burnt down. A property clean-up project was organized by Bancroft community member Damon Jenkins on June 25th, in an effort to help the Ellis and Elizabeth Call family with clearing up their property after the flames destroyed their home and most of their belongings. 

Clean-up efforts began Wednesday at 11 am and wrapped up Friday at noon and included numerous groups of people who worked lengthy shifts throughout that timeframe. On Wednesday alone 20-25 community members and supporters showed up to gather metal from throughout the property to be recycled and sold to Pacific Steel. One steel bin has been filled and awaits pickup from the company, while project supporters anticipate filling about two more bins with metal over the coming weeks. Many companies,  farms, and individuals generously contributed man-hours and equipment to the cause. 

G & E Equipment Rentals donated the use of their dump trailer for 4 days, which volunteers filled repeatedly, making several trips to the county dump. Skid steers, a mini tele handler, another dump trailer and a pickup truck were donated by Highland Grain, who also had 4 employees working during the cleanup efforts for two and a half days straight. Loren and Monte Yost donated a backhoe, dump truck and front-end loader for Wednesday’s clean up. Date and Camille Yost donated a the use of their skid steer beginning the Saturday immediately following the fire and still sits on-site, ready for the next surge of clean up efforts. Craig, Keith and Reed Crandall donated the use of their semi truck and trailer, and Kip Campbell donated time and equipment operating his backhoe for the afternoon as well. Krump Agriculture donated water so the Calls could keep their garden alive despite the fact that the city had to turn their water off due to damaged water lines. The LDS Bancroft Relief Society sponsored a luncheon at the Lion’s building on Wednesday to feed all of the project’s volunteers. 

During Wednesday’s project some of the Call’s family members assisted with clean up efforts while Ellis and Elizabeth scouted for anything salvageable or sentimental that may have survived the blaze. According to Damon Jenkins 80-90% of the debris from the house has been cleaned up and removed from the lot. Damon said, “Everybody who has shown up for these clean up efforts has been awesome. What we expected to take a full day of work to clear up metal took only one and a half hours to complete, due to the number of people helping.”

Some confusion has arisen regarding the cause of the fire that originated at the Call’s home on June 20th. Property owners on scene initially indicated the cause of the fire may have been from the burn pit in their backyard. No official investigation has been conducted by the State Fire Marshall’s office, and county and other fire officials reacted with procedural responses for a “known cause” fire while on scene, according to their statements. The Enterprise has reached out to the Calls for response but has not been contacted on this matter yet. 

Regarding Karen Koefed’s home that was also damaged by the fires, Karen said she is dealing with some smoke-inhalation related health issues. Normal investigations still need to be conducted but her intention is to rebuild her home to its original historic design. The upstairs has been completely destroyed and there’s water and smoke damage throughout. According to Karen, “What’s done is done. Everyone needs to start their healing. It could’ve been prevented. The fire service did everything in their power to save my place, and they did everything they could to keep people safe. It’s sad all the way around. The insurance company will do their jobs and figure everything out. In the meantime, I’m homeless.” On July 24th Karen’s family intends to host a yard sale to fundraise money to rebuild her home. They also have plans to host some type of event as a “thank you” for everyone who was fighting fires the day their home caught fire. 

Billy Chacon’s home caught fire via a chimney fire on June 21st and said his recovery efforts are coming along. Windows have been boarded up and he is currently awaiting a formal inspection to be done. He has been advised that recovery efforts will likely take about 9 months, but his insurance company is providing him housing in the meantime. Thankfully, he recently had an appraisal done on the house which will be helpful with his insurance claim. He has said he doesn’t need any help at this time, and is grateful for the assistance provided by the American Red Cross and the community.

Effective July 1 Caribou County Fire Chief Brad Hemmert issued a burn ban in Caribou County. This ban applies to all open burning including burn barrels. This ban does not apply to those camping on forest service land. No burn permits will be issued until further notice. Currently issued burn permits will no longer be valid after June 30, 2025. If you have any questions please contact the EMS office at 208-547-2583.

On a lighter note: Travis Burns was one of these who is applying to join the Bancroft volunteer fire department after the fiery fiascos on June 20th and 21st, including on his paperwork to apply for a volunteer position with the Bancroft fire department, “2 fires under my belt” as his response to the question, “What fire experience do you have?” Touché…