Fire destroys Glenns Ferry home

The home was fully involved in flame when firefighters arrived.

Fire destroyed a home on West Snake River Avenue in Glenns Ferry last Wednesday afternoon.

The residents and their two dogs escaped without injury.

The fire started in a detached garage located just a few feet from the main structure.

Billy Powell, who rents from Denver Price, said he was in the house when he heard honking. He went to investigate the source of the noise and saw two men waving toward the garage yelling "fire, fire."

Powell said that he attempted to reach a hose in the backyard but heat and smoke forced him back. He then tried to reenter the home to retrieve his car keys hoping to move the family car from the garage but, again, he was forced back by heat and smoke.

The two gentlemen, identified as Marcos Juarez and Victor Hernandez, located a hose and outside spigot and tried to douse the fire but it had grown too large, Juarez said.

Crews from the Glenns Ferry Fire Department arrived on scene shortly after 2 p.m. By then, the fire had spread to the rear of the house and flames quickly engulfed the entire structure.

Ammunition stored in the house began exploding, forcing one firefighter to retreat. Firefighters were told that a can of gas was on the rear porch of the house, but Fire Chief Derek Janousek later said that there was no indication of a gas container.

Mrs. Powell was not home when the fire started, but arrived on scene shortly thereafter. One of the couple's dogs fled the scene but was soon located and taken to a safe place along with their other dog.

Crews spent several hours fighting the fire and mopping up.

Janousek said it is not the first time he had been to a fire where there was ammunition. He said it's the casings, rather than the bullets, that go flying and they pose little threat to firefighters.

Mr. Powell said he'd been in the garage earlier in the morning, but had not been working with any flammable materials.

He credits Juarez and Hernandez for saving his life. "If he and his friend hadn't come to warn me, I would have been in the house when it (fire) blew up," he said gesturing toward Juarez as the two men sat watching crews fight the fire from the safety of a neighbor's yard.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal's Office was expected to arrive Thursday afternoon to try and determine the cause of the blaze.