Firemen prevent $12 million in cash from burning up

Fire crews quickly put out the fire when an armored truck flipped over on I-84 and burst into flames.

A Loomis Wells Fargo armored car carrying approximately $12 million in cash slid off I-84 at milepost 90 last Friday morning and immediately burst into flames.

But prompt response by sheriff's deputies and local firemen saved both the three men in the vehicle and the cash.

A snowstorm early Friday morning had left the interstate slick and icy. Deputy Bob Peace was on his way to a report of a slide-off further down the interstate at about 6:50 a.m. when he saw the armored car slide off the road into the median and flip over. It immediately burst into flames.

"You see stuff like that on TV all the time," said Fire Chief Phil Gridley, "but in real life that's pretty rare."

Peace immediately stopped and rushed to the burning vehicle, pulling the driver and guards from the cab of the armored car. The three men suffered only minor injuries in the crash.

About 30 seconds after his arrival, two members of the Mountain Home fire department/extrication team, who had responded to an accident earlier that morning on the interstate and were returning to town, pulled up to help. At the same time, Gridley, who had heard the accident report on his scanner, immediately called out his fire crews, who rushed to the scene.

While fire crews worked to extinguish the fire, the armored car's driver gave Gridley the key to the box vault "so we could make sure there was no fire in the box," but Gridley said they were able to put out the fire before it damaged any of the contents.

"As soon as we got everything under control, I gave them back the key, smiled, and told them that we'd be waiting for our 10 percent reward," the fire chief joked.

While the firemen were fighting the fire the Loomis Wells Fargo crew called their own dispatcher, and a replacement vehicle was immediately sent from Boise.

Peace called Det. Cathy Wolfe to assist him, and the two guarded the armored car, along with the Loomis Wells Fargo guards, until the replacement armored car arrived. The cash, loaded on pallets, was quickly transferred and back on its way to its intended destination within less than an hour after the accident had occurred.

"I had to live 50 years to see $12 million," Wolfe said, "and I'll never see it again in my lifetime. It was amazing."