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ARIMO, Idaho — Three Downey firefighters suffered injuries when their fire truck caught fire at the scene of a wildfire south of this Bannock County town.
The fire was reported along South Marsh Valley Road around 11 a.m. Monday and initially threatened multiple houses that were about 100 yards from the flames, the Idaho State Journal reported.
The three Downey Fire Department firefighters suffered injuries in what’s being called a “freak accident” that occurred at the fire scene. The firefighters were in their five-ton, 6x6 fire truck when a gasoline can fell off the truck. The truck then ran over the can, which was full of gasoline, and this caused the truck to ignite and quickly become engulfed by flames.
“A gas can came loose, fell out of the truck and they were backing up when they ran the gas can over and it ignited,” said Downey Fire Chief Chris Sorensen. “They were fighting in the black (burned grass) like we usually do and there were enough embers that it went up.”
The firefighters escaped the vehicle but all three suffered burns — one of them on 40 percent of his body. The other two firefighters suffered less severe burns and one of the two also broke his leg.
All three of the injured firefighters were transported via Downey Ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello for treatment. Condition updates have not yet been released.
Though the fire truck was destroyed by the fire, Sorensen said he unsure what the cost would be to replace the vehicle as it was donated to the fire department from the Idaho Department of Lands.
In addition to the Idaho State Police and Bannock County Sheriff’s office, fire crews from Arimo, McCammon, Downey and the Bureau of Land Management responded to the blaze.
The Bannock County Sheriff’s Office reported at 12:15 p.m. that the wildfire had been contained and firefighters from Downey, McCammon and Inkom were extinguishing the remaining flames. A Journal reporter at the scene reported at 1:30 p.m. that firefighters were still there mopping up what was left of the fire.
Although the blaze initially threatened houses along South Marsh Valley Road, firefighters got the upper hand on the fire before any evacuations were needed. No structures were damaged by the fire.
The names of the injured firefighters have not yet been released. The Sheriff’s Office said they were the only people injured during the fire.
Authorities said that it’s not known at this time what caused the fire.
When the fire was first reported it was an acre in size and it grew to about six acres before firefighters contained it.
Downey Fire Department officials said that in response to the firefighters being injured the department will be reviewing its policies and procedures to prevent future accidents.
“I don’t really know what we could have done different other than we’re just going to reevaluate how we do things,” Sorensen said. “Without knowing exactly how that gas can fell lose it’s hard to know what went wrong.”
