‘It’s a pretty devastating loss.’ Here’s why part of the Ririe Fire Station went up in flames
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RIRIE — There’s charred rubble left behind, and the smell of smoke still lingers in the air at an auxiliary building in Ririe belonging to firefighters.
A large fire broke out on the property of Central Fire District Station #2 at 249 West Ririe Highway in Jefferson County. It happened on Wednesday around 4:30 p.m.
RELATED | Building, four trucks severely damaged in blaze at Ririe Fire Station
“Somebody drove by. It sounded like they heard the door get blown off and they pulled in here and started filming and called 911,” said EMS Chief Jared Giannini with Central Fire District.
Giannini remembers getting called out to the scene.
“We got toned out like we do on all of our calls … to respond here for a fire at our station. Even when the tones came out, we were like, ‘Is our station really on fire?'” he said. “I never thought in my career that I would respond to a fire at one of our stations.”
Though the main station building wasn’t the one that was on fire, it’s still a big loss.
Firefighters spent at least four to five hours on the scene. There was support from Idaho Falls, Ucon, Ammon, Idaho State Police, Jefferson County and Bonneville County.
Thankfully, nobody was inside the building at the time of the fire and there were no reported injuries.
The cause of the fire
The Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, completed its investigation into the origin and cause of the fire. Officials say an explosion occurred due to a leak in a natural gas pipe inside the building and resulted in the fire, a news release said.
There’s an area inside the auxiliary building that shows the pipe, along with a paper that’s attached that says, “Fire Evidence.”
The fire destroyed contents inside of the building, including a total of four fire vehicles. One of the vehicles was the fire station’s front-line water tender.
“We brought this home in June of 2019, and it’s going to be a tough one to replace, but we can replace all of the equipment,” said Central Fire District Fire Chief Carl Anderson, as he pointed out the water tender.
“It’s a sad situation. You come rolling in here and you see all your trucks that you’ve spent lots of time in and our brand new water tender just burning down and you can’t get in here and get them out and do anything,” Giannini added.
According to Giannini, there are two more water tenders in the district, located in Menan and in Rigby. This was the third one located in Ririe that covered a large area, including places like Kelly Canyon and Swan Valley.
“It’s a pretty devastating loss to Ririe,” he said. “We will just have to either bring one from another station or call one of our surrounding agencies to come and assist with a water tender.”
The other vehicles that were destroyed had sentimental value, like a truck that came from Iraq.
What’s next
If Giannini had to put a price on all that was lost, he says it looks to be over $1 million.
Investigators have been coming through on Friday to evaluate insurance and an adjuster is flying in from another state to look at the vehicles, Giannini said.
The building suffered extensive damage from the initial explosion and fire and it will likely need to be demolished, the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office said in its release.
“It’s always sad when you go to a structure fire because somebody is losing their property, but when it’s at your station, it touches home a little more,” Giannini said.
It will take time to rebuild and most likely won’t be a quick process. Giannini told EastIdahoNews.com they would have to see if the concrete was still structurally sound, and the chief would be tasked with getting a new water tender.
There have been people who have already reached out about grants to try and help and Central Fire District is grateful.
“I appreciate everybody’s support,” Giannini added.
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