Cars burned in fires near I-90, U.S. 95
<p>BETHANY BLITZ/Press</p><p>A tow crew works to load burnt vehicles onto its truck. Four vehicle were damaged or destroyed in the Shilo Inn Suites Hotel from the fire on Interstate 90 near U.S. 95 as well as some jetskis and ATVs at Specialty Recreations and Marine.</p>
<p>BETHANY BLITZ/Press</p><p>A firefighter walks back to the fire trucks after making sure a fire is completely out. The fire on Interstate 90 east U.S 95 burned 1.57 acres of grass and damaged four parked vehicles and some property of a nearby business. No one was hurt.</p>
<p>BETHANY BLITZ/Press</p><p>One of the four cars that was destroyed by the fire near Interstate 90 and U.S. 95 waits to be loaded onto a tow truck. No one was hurt in the fire.</p>
Two fires started near Interstate 90 and U.S. 95 on Saturday afternoon.
The fire to the east of U.S. 95 was a grass fire that burned one acre. There was no property damage or injuries.
The other fire, just west of U.S. 95 on the north side of Interstate 90, started as multiple spot fires that grew together to burn 1.57 acres and damaged multiple cars and property at the Shilo Inn Suites Hotel and Specialty Recreation and Marine and threatened the lives of two dogs.
The Coeur d’Alene Fire Department received a call around 11:30 a.m. and was able to contain the fire within 10 minutes upon arrival. It took about an hour for firefighters to terminate the fire completely.
Winds affected the fire, blowing it east, but the wind created by interstate traffic pushed it west as well, according to Eric Paul, one of the firefighters on scene.
Four cars parked at the Shilo Inn were burned in the fire, most of which were burned completely, while another was only partially damaged.
Eric Secrest, a mechanic at Specialty Recreation and Marine, walked into the parking lot where his car was to find his Impala completely burned through.
“It’s not OK,” he said, watching it get loaded onto a tow truck. “It’s just not OK.”
Sandie Babbitt, whose husband’s car was burned through while he was at work at Specialty Recreation and Marine, was in lighter spirits. As her car got loaded onto the tow truck, she told the workers “don’t scratch it; be careful now.”
“What else can you do?” she told The Press. “We’re just thankful no one got hurt and we’re thankful the fire department got here quickly.”
The only living beings in danger during the fire were two dogs in the back of one of the cars. Barbara Bald of Coeur d’Alene was getting a car wash and saw smoke. She decided to find out where it was coming from and saw the burning cars.
She and another man watched as the fire grew and realized there were two dogs in the back of one of the burning cars.
“We went over to the car and he broke the back window so the dogs could get out,” she said. They were able to get the dogs and put them in her car until they found the owner.
The fire also damaged some property at Specialty Recreations and Marine.
The company’s owner, Casey Morrisroe, said 29 vehicle crates, each holding a jetski or ATV, were affected by the fire.
“Two are total losses,” he said. “But we won’t know the extent of the damage until we really look things through.”
A cause of the fires is still unknown.
“With these winds, we’re making sure everything is out,” said Coeur d’Alene Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Lauper. “We don’t want it to kick up anything later.”