Potlatch fire destroys barn, vehicles
Multiple agencies help extinguish blaze on Flannigan Creek Road
A barn burned to the ground late Wednesday afternoon on Flannigan Creek Road, near Lisher Cutoff Road, southwest of Potlatch.
Several vehicles inside and outside the barn were also destroyed as a result of the blaze and part of an outbuilding caught fire as well, Potlatch Rural Fire District Chief Gary Nagle said.
Fire crews were dispatched to the blaze shortly before 4:30 p.m. and extinguished the flames about an hour and a half later. A local crop duster assisted in fighting the fire by making passes over the fire, dousing it with water.
"When we arrived, the barn was fully engulfed," Nagle said.
Crews were still watering down hot spots at 7:30 p.m., and Nagle estimated firefighters would be on scene for another couple hours. He said they would possibly return to the scene later that night to make sure the fire did not start up again.
He said his main focus was preventing the flames from reaching the surrounding open fields. The fire reached four to five feet into the fields in a couple areas, he said.
Nagle said the two structures near the barn were not damaged.
No one was injured, and the cause of the fire is under investigation, Nagle said.
Crews from Potlatch, Deary, Moscow, Palouse, Tensed, Idaho Department of Lands, Wilbur-Ellis Company and Bennett Lumber Products Inc. responded to the fire.
