Controlled burn blazes out of control and burns down one house and five vehicles

BANNOCK COUNTY — A house and multiple vehicles were destroyed by fire Sunday after a property owner lost control of what was supposed to be a controlled burn.

Firefighters responded to the fire at around 4 p.m. on a property on Philbin Road outside Chubbuck. Before this, the homeowner was burning weeds in a burn barrel.

“It got out of her control,” said Brian Curtis, fire chief of Bannock County Fire District.

While the controlled burn was going, some embers blew out of the barrel and spread to other dry fuels. While the property owner had a hose to water the flames down, it wasn’t enough and the fire spread to the perimeter of the property and reached the house and the vehicles.

Five vehicles and the home were completely destroyed in the blaze, although firefighters managed to knock down the fire by 5 p.m.

The property owner was in violation of an open burn ban that went into effect on July 15 due to the hot, dry and windy weather conditions.

RELATED | Open burn ban takes effect in Bannock County

The burn ban specifies that people shouldn’t be doing open field burning in the current weather conditions.

“You can have a fire pit in your backyard,” Curtis said. “If you’ve got a fire ring in your backyard and you wanna roast marshmallows, it’s not a problem, but no open field burning.”

Curtis said that people who want to better protect their homes from fires should have a “defensible space” around the property.

“Try to keep tall grass and weeds shaved down around your house. Leave yourself a perimeter of safety,” Curtis said.

Curtis thanked the Fort Hall, Chubbuck and Pocatello fire departments for assisting in putting out the house fire.