Robust response snuffs Garfield Bay blaze
(Photo courtesy SELKIRK FIRE RESCUE & EMS) Firefighters managed to keep a structure fire from completely destroying a cabin overlooking Lake Pend Oreille at Garfield Bay on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy SELKIRK FIRE RESCUE & EMS) An Idaho Department of Lands Helitack crew stages at the Garfield Bay boat launch on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy SELKIRK FIRE RESCUE & EMS) Firefighters connected 300 feet of supply line to a Sam Owen Fire District fireboat, which pumped water from the lake to a Selkirk engine during Thursday's fire.
SAGLE — A robust confluence of firefighting and law enforcement resources is being credited with putting down a structure fire on a remote section of Lake Pend Oreille waterfront on Thursday.
There were no injuries.
Selkirk Fire Rescue & EMS firefighter were dispatched to a structure fire at Garfield Bay that began with a shed catching fire. The conflagration then spread to an occupied cabin and the forest surrounding the buildings, said Selkirk Chief Ron Stocking. The fire was reported shortly after 11 a.m. on Bozo Boulevard, which lies at the end of West Garfield Bay Road.
“When firefighters got on the scene, there was a lot of fire and not a whole lot of firefighters,” Stocking said.
But reinforcements came from Northside and Sam Owen fire districts, in addition to the Idaho Department of Lands and Bonner County Sheriff’s Office. Road and marine deputies helped stretch line and an IDL Helitack crew also worked the fire.
Sam Owen’s fire boat, meanwhile, was moored at a nearby dock and pumped water from the lake up a 300-foot embankment to Selkirk’s engine.
“It was a great solution to supplying water in a very remote location,” Stocking said. “That’s what allowed us to put a lot of water on it really quick.”
The outbuilding was destroyed, but a majority of the cabin was saved, Stocking said. Firefighters also kept the fire from spreading further into the forest or to an adjacent home.
“We were fortunate we were able to hit hard with so many people,” Stocking said.
The Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
The sheriff’s office urged residents to evacuate the area in a Nixle alert, although it clarified about an hour later that evacuations were not being ordered and for people to avoid the area so as not to hamper first responders.
The time of year and the home’s location on an east-facing aspect of Grouse Mountain worked in firefighters’ favor.
Stocking said that aspect of the slope doesn’t get the most sun exposure and forest fuels remain green.
“If this had been 30 days from now, we would have had a whole host of problems,” he said.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.