Fire in garage/shop causes more than $300,000 in damage

An estimated $300,000 damage was caused in a Friday fire that destroyed a garage/workshop structure at 6887 S. 18th West St.

Fire crews were paged out just after 4 a.m. on March 13. Fire Chief Phil Gridley said he could see flames from at least a mile away as he rushed to the fire.

As fire crews arrived on scene there was a large fireball explosion from a propane tank that blew up, he said. At least three fourths of the 82'x30' structure was on fire when the crew arrived.

Four vehicles were parked in the structure, and next to it, parked outside, were a camper/trailer and a boat. Firemen were able to save the boat but not the other vehicles.

Two rural fire district pumpers, a tender, and a tender from Mountain Home AFB responded to the blaze, which took firefighters approximately 30 minutes to bring under control.

In addition to the vehicles, the owner of the structure, Robin Hicks, also lost a number of tools and family heirlooms.

Crews were on scene for about five hours, then returned later in the day three times to check on the structure, twice finding small hot spot fires that needed to be dealt with.

The cause of the fire is unknown.