Fire destroys lake home

A house fire that took more than a day to extinguish obliterated a 4,500-square-foot waterfront home on Lake Coeur d'Alene, a fire official confirmed this week.

"The house is a total loss. About a $2.4 million loss," said Jason Blubaum, fire chief at Mica Kidd Island Fire Protection District.

No one was at home at 254 Steamboat Drive during the fire, Blubaum said, adding that the owners requested not to be named.

The home was insured, he said, and the residents are currently staying with family in Spokane.

The cause of the fire will be labeled "undetermined," Blubaum added.

"There's really nothing left for us to investigate," he explained.

The fire district was paged for a smoke investigation on Saturday, he said. He didn't specify whether that was morning or evening, and could not be reached again on Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters found the house aflame. Several other agencies were called for aid, Blubaum said, including Northern Lakes Fire Protection District, Worley Fire District, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and East Side Fire and Rescue.

Crews were still at the scene until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Blubaum said.

Snuffing the fire was a massive undertaking, he said.

"We used about 360,000 gallons of water," Blubaum said.

There were many issues, he said. The fire was reported hours after it began, he said. Calls were also dialed to the fire station instead of to 9-1-1, he said, and no one could provide a specific location to drive to.

"We had to look for different areas," Blubaum said.

Access was "a major issue," he said, due to the narrow and icy driveway.

"We couldn't have gotten an ambulance in there if we wanted to," he said.

No firefighters were injured while battling the flames.

Blubaum encouraged citizens in rural areas to keep their driveways plowed and cleared.

"Give access to fire districts," he said.