Rigby company surprises Central Fire District 10 years after massive blaze

RIGBY – After one of three main buildings went up in flames in 2006, administrators and workers at Challenger Pallet and Supply Inc. were more than devastated

“The fire has never been solved,” Tad Hegsted, the president of Challenger, told EastIdahoNews.com.

Wednesday was the tenth anniversary for the major pallet fire, one of the largest Jefferson County had ever experienced. To commemorate the event, Challenger held a dinner to honor firefighters and employees who sacrificed for the business.

“We wanted to give back to those who helped save our business, the employees that are employed with Challenger Pallet (who) were here at that time, and (also) the fire department that came to our rescue,” Hegsted said.

Challenger surprised the Central Fire District with a $10,000 donation that will go toward much needed gear for the department.

“We’re very grateful that we could be there in that time of need, and have such a good outcome in a bad situation,” fire chief Bryan Grover told EastIdahoNews.com.

Grover said battling the fire was an incredible and overwhelming experience. Crew members were at the scene for nearly 40 hours and it took some 200,000 gallons of water until the fire extinguished.

“The initial knock down was done in about eight hours and then we had crews to monitor and make sure that nothing came back up,” Grover said.

Kelly Bennion, the vice president of Challenge Pallet, said since the fire, the company added a fire suppression system and other safety enhancements.

“All the equipment was older equipment so we were able to renew that, which helped us be better and stronger,” Bennion said.

Bennion and Hegsted are glad no one in the fire was injured and they are thankful for the service and sacrifice that went toward rebuilding Challenger Pallet.

“There are few company’s that make it out of a fire and we were able to do it,” Bennion said. It could have been much worse had it not been for the fire department.”