Monday blaze destroys mobile home

SAGLE — No one was injured in a fire that destroyed a mobile home before noon Monday near Garfield Bay.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, but an electrical short may have started the blaze, the owner said.

Keely Henderson, who was asleep in the single-wide mobile home at 84 Midas Road, woke to the smell of smoke, and a snapping-and-popping sound inside the structure, her mother, Irvina Shoopman, said.

The woman ran to the Anchor Gas and Boat Storage owned and operated by Shoopman, who also owns the 12-foot by 60-foot mobile home.

“The smoke woke her up,” Shoopman said.

She called authorities at 11:28 a.m.

The blaze, likely caused by faulty wiring, destroyed the trailer, Shoopman said.

“It burned down due to electricity,” she said.

Firefighters from the Sagle Fire Department, arrived at 11:44 a.m., Robert Goodyear, Sagle fire chief, said.

Crews from the Sandpoint Fire Department and Northside Fire, as well as Bonner EMS assisted Sagle firefighters.

Henderson woke as the trailer was burning, ran outside, and up the road to her mother’s gas station, Goodyear said.

“Cell phone coverage in that area is pretty spotty,” he said.

The home was pumping smoke when his crews arrived.

“When we got there, heavy smoke was showing in all parts of the mobile home,” he said. “There was high heat coming out of the front door. We were able to knock it out.”

Although the exterior walls remain standing, the home is heavily damaged.

 The nearest neighboring structure is 75 feet away and was not in danger of burning, he said.

The fire started in a combined laundry and bathroom, he said, but because of the extensive damage, a cause could not be pinpointed.

The home did not have smoke detectors, the chief said. He urged homeowners without fire detectors to install some, or to check existing detectors to make sure they work.

“This was a very near miss,” he said.