I presume you are in favor of increased density? I was not sure from your post.

At this time, it appears that an Idaho Power power poll and associated gizmos on it are to blame for starting the fire. What caused the poll to explode is unknown. It was clear last night listening to some witnesses that a loud explosion was heard right before the fire started.

Is Idaho Power self-insured? How will this be handled???

EDITOR NOTE–Not in favor of increased density. Fire most likely was a result of arcing caused by the extreme winds whipping the wires. Don´t know if there was lightning. Any way you cut it, it was an ACT OF NATURE.

My heart goes out to the families that lost so much – including a loved one – in this devastating fire.

Most tragic perhaps, is how avoidable it almost certainly was.

Back in the late 80’s /early 90’s when I worked the wildfires, I was often amazed at how many homeowners had their heads-in-the-sand regarding their homes vulnerability.

Shake roofs, a cord of wood up against the house alongside gas cans, zero firescaping, etc…

I often wondered (sometimes aloud) why they didn’t just dowse the property in kerosene and get it over with.

Evidently, not much was learned from the Foothills Fire of ’96, and I suspect the lessons from this fire will also be soon forgotten.

—

Bravo’ and Brava’ to the exceptionally brave men and women of the various fire agencies that risked all fighting this fire.

I will agree with you that more can be done to educate homeowners of the need to construct denfensible spaces around there homes particularly in our urban interface regions. This devistation is not a growth issue. It’s not like this sprawl took place last year. These homes have been in place for sometime. A freak set of circumstances led to this. My hat’s off to the men and women of BFD and BPD as well as neghiboring jurisdictions that helped combat this disaster.

Gosh, why don’t you just come out and hand all of us “that blue book”. I would have never guessed you were Mormon. If you are, file that blue book with your ten speed and name tag in a file called been there and fooled before. If your not, why don’t you just say what needs to be said to the other “possibly worthy? faiths” Step up and take action as needed!

EDITOR NOTE–I am not, never have been, never will. However, I have seen ém in action in these circumstances. Faith isn´t the issue here, it is a vast organization.

My thoughts and prayers to the Ryder family for their loss. Boise has now seen what communities in California have lived with for years, a Wildfire in the WUI (Wildland urban interface). This fire was a combination of many factors. High winds, heavy fuel load in some areas, terrain, no defensible space around homes…all a recipe for disaster. We the homeowners prepared it?, was Boise Fire prepared for it?, likely not. This should be a wake up call for future development in communities. Kudos to the Firefighters and Law Enforcement involved in suppressing this fire.

Whether your support growth or not,
Every community on the “edge” of the wilderness needs to consider strategies in landscape design and construction methods to keep their residents safe.

http://www.firewise.org/

Unfortunately a lot of growth happened before planners and developers really started thinking about protection from wildfires.

Mr. Guardian, I was shocked at your “LDS” comment…you rabble-rouser you! I understand it was simply a statement of curious fact validated by what I saw on KTVB’s coverage. They were interviewing evacuees inside of an LDS building’s gymnasium.

Religion aside, there sure are a lot of darn good folks around here and its great to see thoughts and prayers in action!

Lisa, I’m sure everyone shares your sentiments with regard to how sorry we are at a loss of life in this. It must have been pure hell for those who lost their homes. I must disagree with the part of your statement that questioned the preparedness of the Fire and Police departments. Your assessment that the homeowners did not have an adequate defense zone around their homes is correct, but at the same time, I believe it was a miracle that the BPD were able to get all but one of the citizens out of the area safely. The truly amazing thing is that the BFD was able to stop this where they did. The fact that they were able to limit this to the area they did was truly heroic! That set of circumstances could have easily taken the majority of Columbia Village! We are fortunate , as a community, to have such dedicated professionals serve us! We owe them a great deal of thanks and gratitude for the job they did, and continue to do.

Thank you for mentioning Mary Ellen. She was a good person. My heart goes out to her husband Peter.

Cyclops, it wasn’t just Boise Fire, there were a lot of mutual aid resources involved from all over the Treasure Valley. I didn’t question Boise Fire’s efforts. No Fire Depart, Career of Volunteer could be fully ready for such a confligration. Boise Fire did a fine job with their 3 man engine companies and their Type1 Engines (structural) with 500 gallon water tanks but so did the numerous other fire departments and agencies involved in the fight. I’m sure there were a lot of lessons learned and hopefully those will be used for future incidents. With the amout of fire involved, the speed of the fire, the threat to life ect, the captains and chiefs had a lot to deal with. Are homeowners safe and can they be safely evacuated?, Structure Triage (which homes can be saved with minimal threat to firefighters), Water Supply ie: Hydrants or “Bump n Run” off the booster tank (you can empty that 500 gallon b tank in 2 minutes), Tenders aka “Water Tankers”, Air Support (though high winds cancel air support when needed). I’m sure Boise Fire Chain of Comman did the best they could with what they had available.

Also. Mr. Guardian, another question..or pregunta..as they say in Espana..Since you been a longtime news junkie and photo-grapher..can you remember a fire this destructive in modern Boise history? I been here a long time too and can’t think of one with so much damage and so sadly the loss of a life…not the Eastman Bldg..not 8th street fire…Old Owyhee hotel…search your brain, Senor Guardian, and go easy on the vino.

EDITOR NOTE–It probably stacks up as worst in my fading memory of 40 years. The OXFORD hotel was a big one–NOT Owyhee.

Nice Werner, I’ve said similar things on here and I’ve yet to hear a response. 🙂

I wonder what would’ve happened here if the house out there were in a denser configuration?

I think most people would like to see a more structured growth plan that contained urban sprawl but a few just hate all things developer. Words thrown around like “bloodsuckers” don’t help much. Developers do what they do to make money, what a shock. Dave, when you were covering the Teton flood were you doing it on a volunteer basis or were you a “bloodsucker” taking advantage of people’s misery in order to make a buck? (Tongue in cheek of course, it was something that the press needed to cover. However, people need shelter too.)

Maybe an article that clearly stated your position on growth would be helpful. The long time readers have a good idea of your views but there are new readers all the time. I think it would be an interesting article for everyone.

EDITOR NOTE–I am in Spain trying to make a buck off the local populace. Just do a GROWTH search to get the picture. Short version is: if we have to PAY businesses come here, they aren´t worth having…that goes for downtown, retail and big “job producer” manufacturing. Not much success with concessions government has made so far (Albertson, Micron, HP, etc.)
We built an economy on GROWTH and it was doomed to fail at some time as you can´t grow forever.

Regarding any type of Air Support, helicopter won’t fly in winds 30+ mph, I think its the same with Air Tankers or close. Plus the terrain in winds makes it all that much dangerous.

Some amazing footage from the fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN3Vl6r4Ntc

Well, thank GOD for the LDS church! I am sure you are aware of the GIANT efforts of many groups, volunteers and citizens that came to the aid of those who lost homes and lives in the fire, who may or may not be Mormans….who cares. They were there as human beings to help in a terrible situation.
I am not bashing Mormans (I come from a LONG family line of Mormans) but, your comment was ridiculous and quite frankly a slap in the face to ALL the organizations and people that stepped up to help.
And where were you? Oh, that’s right….touring Spain…making a buck off someone else’s misery!
You took a terrible event and as usual, with your underhanded comments, turned it into something ugly.

“All he did was point out an organization (my church in this case) that knows how to handle these situations, and has had quite the record doing so.”

Maybe you should read my entry again, because apparently you did not understand the words or you are putting your own spin on what I said. I never said the LDS church does not step up when people need help, they do alot of good for people in need.

It is RIDICULOUS to credit ONE group for ‘saving the day’.
I AM personally affected by the fires and I am saying there were many groups helping and many private citizens helping and his comments undermined that.

“Nothing cute about this one, but as a rabid GROWTHOPHOBE we knew it was just a matter of time. Homes crowded together, shake roofs, riparian zones full of dry fuel are a recipe for disaster.

Guess the next ‘opinion’ is going to be that the Jamacian’s deserved what Hurricane IKE did to the island …. “how dare they live on a paradise island..it is just a matter of time and a recipe for disater”

He couldn’t just talk about what a tragedy this fire was and leave it at that?!! Just had to put an “it’s your fault for living there” zinger in to show the level of compassion of The Boise Guardian.
Apparently, opinions, that don’t agree with the so-called-guardian, are not allowed….hummmm……