VICTOR, Idaho — A residential structure fire broke out east of Victor on Thursday night, and Teton County (Idaho) Fire and Rescue succeeded in extinguishing the blaze before it could spread amid very high fire danger.
Fire and Rescue (TCFR) was notified of the house fire on the 10000 block of Colter’s Run Trail at 9:13 p.m, Fire Chief Mike Maltaverne posted to TCFR’s Facebook. Within 7 minutes, a firefighting unit arrived from Station 2 in Victor. Residents had self-evacuated, and the flames were “threatening nearby vegetation and neighboring structures,” Maltaverne said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“The decision was made to stop the fire from spreading and the crew engaged in protecting the nearby exposures,” Maltaverne wrote.
Additional personnel traveled to the scene from Driggs’ Station 1, along with mutual aid from nine neighboring departments to keep the structure fire from becoming a wildland fire. The home was situated along Game Creek.
“TCFR’s nearest mutual aid is a 45-minute drive away so TCFR personnel were at a significant disadvantage but performed to the best of their ability with limited resources,” the post reads. “On any given day, our staffing is 7 personnel, on average. The national standard according to the National Fire Protection Association is a minimum of 15 to respond to a single family dwelling on fire.”
In the end, the fire was contained to the original property and no additional buildings were lost. No injuries were reported by civilians or responders.
“It is important to note that while fighting this fire, TCFR was requested for a transfer of a patient from TVH to EIRMC and another medical call was dispatched during the incident,” Maltaverne wrote. “These calls were handled by our mutual aid partners.”
Maltaverne offered thoughts and prayers to the family that lost their home and belongings, and thanked the neighboring agencies that came to the rescue.
