Arson blamed for Payette fires
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 10:11 AM PDT
Julie Engel Argus Observer
Payette
Four fires that scorched more than 150 acres in Payette Monday morning were sparked by arson Payette Fire Chief Jeff Sands said.
Sands said the initial fire call came in around 2:30 a.m. Monday and the Payette Rural Fire Department responded to the blaze. Two fires out at Little Willow and Idaho Highway 52 converged into one, Sands said. About an hour and 20 minutes after the first fire started, Sands said, a call came in for two more fires on Payette Heights Road in the area of Seventh Avenue North.
“There were no feasible ignition sources,” Sands said. “I know they were set, intentional fires.”
New Plymouth Rural Fire Department along with Fruitland Fire Department and Weiser Rural Fire Department responded with mutual aid to the Little Willow fire, and Sands said he called Ontario Fire & Rescue, Ontario Rural Fire Department and Vale Rural Fire Department to help out with the Payette Heights blaze, along with Payette city crews. Sands said he also called the United States Bureau of Land Management from Boise with two heavy engines for the Little Willow fire.
The two fires at Payette Heights were contained quickly, Sands said, only damaging about 2 acres. Sands said he kept patrols near those fires until about 6 a.m. that morning. After containment, fire departments shifted back to the Little Willow fire, which Sands said was contained around 8 a.m. Monday.
“We had a quick patrol on it last night for about an hour and a half,” Sands said. Sands said he has talked with a Payette County Sheriff's Office detective, and there are leads that they will begin to work on regarding the blazes. Arson is always tough to prove, Sands said, and it takes time to follow-up all of the leads in the case.
Multiple fires are a danger to fire crews, Sands said, because firefighters are stretched thin as they run from one fire to another. It not only increases the odds of an accident, Sands said, but it also poses the danger of missing a link in the setup of the original fire.
“These types of fires are dangerous,” Sands said. “There's a high potential to get firemen hurt.”
No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:
And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.
Disgusting. "