Fire razes Peninsula Road home

HOPE — Bonner County sheriff and state fire marshal officials spent a second day Thursday poring over the remains of a waterfront home on Lake Pend Oreille that burned to the ground.

The structure fire in the 1600 block of Peninsula Road was reported shortly after 4 a.m. on Wednesday. The home was for sale and unoccupied, said sheriff’s investigator Christian Frye.

Frye said there are no preliminary indications of what might have started the blaze.

“It’s much too early,” Frye said.

The 2,784-square-foot home near the intersection of Peninsula and Sun Ray Drive was being offered for $725,000, according to online real estate listings. The three-story home was built in 1947 and offered views of Owens Bay.

The home’s address is listed as 1658 Peninsula in the real estate listing, although Bonner County Assessor and Road & Bridge department records list the address as 1657 Peninsula.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is owned by Hi Side Property Holdings, according to assessor records. Hi Side is a limited-liability corporation managed by Junior Larry Hillbroom, Idaho Secretary of State records indicate.

Coincidentally, the dwelling once housed Lakeshore Aftercare, a sober-living facility operated by Carl and Loretta Olding, founders of Elk Mountain Academy in Clark Fork.

Michael Wyatt Smith, 19, was staying at Lakeshore Aftercare when he disappeared in September 2011. His remains were discovered in a shallow grave north of Sandpoint in January of the following year and Austin Blake Thrasher was charged with his killing.

Smith, according to court testimony, rendezvoused with Austin Blake Thrasher on the day he disappeared. Thrasher linked up with Smith ostensibly to party, but he was lured into the woods in Cocolalla and shot to death by Thrasher.

Smith was slain because he was allegedly dating a Clark Fork teen whom Thrasher was also romantically involved with. Thrasher, 22, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16.

The fact that the home was listed for sale when the fire broke out has touched off speculation in the neighborhood that it was no accident.

However, sheriff’s Lt. Ror Lakewold said there’s no evidence so far to indicate that it was anything but an accident. The sheriff’s mobile command post had been stationed at the scene, which Lakewold suspects may be fueling suspicions of foul play.

“When we roll the command post to something and sit on it for 24 hours, clearly that’s going to start drawing attention,” Lakewold said.