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Neighbors evacuated
Electrical fire threatened to blow up truck
carrying 500 gallons of fuel
From staff reports
LEWISTON — A neighborhood was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after an
electrical fire started in a garage and threatened to blow up a truck
carrying 500 gallons of diesel fuel.
The fire was reported to officials at about 2:50 p.m. Thursday and crews
from throughout the northern part of the county responded to fight the
blaze. A garage behind a couple of homes near 100 S. Main started
accidentally, Cache County Fire District Chief Gary Roberts said, and
burned for about 90 minutes before crews got it under control.
The structure was a total loss, however, as were the truck inside and a
custom motorcycle, bringing total damage from the blaze to about
$150,000.
Roberts said the diesel truck inside the garage was one used by a local
gas company to transport fuel. It carried a large 500-gallon diesel fuel
tank and a couple of other gas tanks on it. The neighborhood in a
one-block radius around the garage was evacuated partially for safety
concerns but mostly because of the “nasty smoke” that filled the area.
Roberts said the smoke from the fire also browned the siding of a nearby
home.
Residents were allowed back into their homes, however, shortly after the
blaze was under control. |
