Pictures and Videos of the Boise Fire

For those of you who were not aware, there was a large brush fire that burned many homes near our subdivision. The fire started in a field near our home and quickly spread to the east and up a hill into another subdivision. Firefighters from the BLM put out the field fire before it was able to spread toward us. One of Sarah's friends was jumping on his trampoline and watched it start on the other side of his fence. Luckily for them, the wind pushed the flames down the side of the fence and not into it. Our family and our immediate neighbors were lucky, others farther away were not.
Aerial view of The Burn. We are roughly down the hill a bit from the yellow arrow in the upper left of the pic. But for the grace of God we could have been burned out. Had the wind turned south instead of continuing southeastenly, our subdivision would've been gone. We were blessed, but unfortunately several members of our ward and their neighbors lost everything. And worst of all, a beloved member of the BSU Faculty passed away in the firestorm.
The remains of two homes from our ward. The daughter from the home on the far right is in my (Brent's) Sunday School class.

This horse is owned by the father of Sarah's best friend. The horse and its twin are actually heroes since they ate a lot of grass and brush at the base of the hill. Two homes (the first counselor's and another retired couple) would have been destroyed had there been more fuel to burn. Unfortunately, their pens, trailer, equipment and $700 worth of fresh hay were destroyed.

Fire officials estimate that it took less than two minutes from the time the fire started until the first homes were engulfed. It covered more than a quarter mile in that time. Apparently, it was started by burning metal that fell from a transformer during the 50+ mph winds. A fallen branch may have been at fault too.

Just one side of Sweetwater Dr. Both sides were hit.

The picture says everything. This home housed a member family of seven.














We are extremely grateful to our Father in Heaven for his many blessings. Our hearts go out to the husband and family of Mary Ellen Ryder and our prayers are with them. Though there was a life lost in this tragedy, there could have been many more. We are very grateful for the quick response and heroics of all the fire crews in the area. Without their efforts, many, many, more homes would have been destroyed. We are also grateful for the dilligence of the B.P.D. in clearing the streets and subdivisons and the willingness of the citizens to promptly and calmly evacuate the scene. The swiftness and unexpected nature of this devastation is still shocking. It is yet another reminder for each of us to prepare our best for an emergency and also to live our lives to the fullest and take every opportunity to spend time with our loved ones.