Fire roars through Coeur d'Alene home

COEUR d'ALENE - A two-story home fire on Fifth Street rapidly flared from candle-sized flames to fully engulfed early Tuesday morning.

Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Deputy Chief Glenn Lauper said personnel from his department, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue and Northern Lakes Fire responded at 5 a.m. and found the second story fully involved.

"It was blowing out both ends," Lauper said. "The main floor was full of smoke and shortly after we arrived, flames broke out in the first floor."

Ingrid Watson, who lives in Coeur d'Alene, said she was outside a friend's house across the street when she saw flames in the second-story window.

"It was just small flames, like from a candle or something," Watson said. "All of a sudden there was a, 'Boom!' and you could see the flicker of short little flames. They just started getting higher and higher."

Watson said when she saw the flames, she ran into her friend's home and dialed 911. She went back outside while on the phone with the dispatcher and said at that point the flames had doubled in size.

"It all happened so fast," Watson said. "They (dispatch) were asking me about the flame height and I just told them 'You got to come now, it's getting bigger. Hurry. Hurry.'"

Firefighters were able to get inside the home and determine that no one was there in need of rescue, Lauper said. Investigators received conflicting stories about how many people were inside.

"We've heard reports ranging from four people and a dog to 15 people and a dog," Lauper said. "Right now the cause of the fire is undetermined, but there was no power going into the structure."

Lauper added that 25 firefighters were on scene and a block of Fifth Street was closed for approximately six hours.