January saw major high-profile fires in eastern Idaho. Are there more than normal?
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IDAHO FALLS — The last few weeks have seen a number of large, high-profile fires in eastern Idaho that have caused major damage.
But regional fire officials say overall, the total number of blazes in eastern Idaho isn’t higher than normal.
Since Jan. 1, the Idaho Falls Fire Department has responded to seven structure fires in its jurisdiction. Of those, six were residential fires. The largest was the Reeds Dairy fire on Jan. 18, which destroyed the business’s processing building.
IFFD also assisted other agencies in responding to fires at Texas Roadhouse in Ammon on Jan. 8 and at the Ririe Fire Station on Jan. 3.
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None of these fires resulted in any injuries and the cause of the Reeds Dairy fire is still under investigation.
The cause of the Texas Roadhouse fire remains undetermined. Bonneville County Fire District 1 Deputy Fire Chief Keith Banda says they’ve been unable to determine a “competent ignition source.”
The Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the Ririe blaze, which destroyed the building and four fire vehicles inside, was the result of an explosion due to a leak in a natural gas pipe.
Idaho Falls Fire Chief Duane Nelson tells EastIdahoNews.com the timing of these fires is coincidental and there isn’t a common factor linking them together.
Though the number of fires this month is not unusual, Nelson says the fact there have been multiple high-profile fires makes it seem higher than normal.
“People start to wonder how long it’s going to (impact businesses) so the conversation keeps going and it makes it seem like there’s more, but statistically we haven’t had any more this month than the last two years,” Nelson says.
The last time there were a large number of fires in January was in 2021. Nelson says there were 12 fires that month, which is almost twice the number this year. Months where a high number of fires occur happens in cycles, Nelson says. In 2022, there were a lot of fires in March. In 2023, July had the highest number.
Responding to six or seven fires in a month is typical, he says.
For the last couple of years, Nelson says the total number of calls per year to the Idaho Falls-area dispatch seems to be holding steady at about 17,500. About 3,500 of those are fire-related.
Bonneville County Fire District 1 and Central Fire District in Jefferson County are seeing a similar trend. Banda reports about 300 total calls every year in the Ammon-area fire district. The bulk of those are vehicle accidents and there were five vehicle fires in 2023. The number of structure fires every year is around 2.5.
Central Fire District saw a slight decrease in the number of calls in 2023 than in 2022, which Fire Chief Carl Anderson attributes to a mild wildfire season.
With massive growth in the last several years, Nelson says the greatest asset in saving people’s lives is the ability to position personnel in the right spot so they can respond quicker. That’s why the construction of the fire station on 65th South last year was a good investment, he says.
But regardless of the number of fires or what caused them, Nelson says there are seasonal factors that can have an impact on how fires start. During the winter months, he says fires often originate from unattended heating sources, such as heat lamps over a chicken coop or space heaters in a house or a garage.
He encourages people to maintain furnaces, fireplaces, chimneys and other heat sources to prevent future fires from happening.
“With this warm weather we’ve had … take the opportunity to check on what you’re doing with those heat lamps. Using extension cords outside all winter long (is not a good practice) and should be a temporary thing. Checking these things is key for prevention,” says Nelson.