Idaho StatesmanSATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2015

IDAHO STATESMAN: A McClatchy Newspaper, 1200 N. Curtis Road, Boise, ID • P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707 • (208) 377-6200 • © 2015 Idaho Statesman, Vol. 150, No. 316, 4 sections, 46 pages

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MILITARY CASE

Bergdahl defenseseeks general’sremoval NEWS, A5

BELMONT STAKES

AMERICAN PHAROAH

SHOOTS FOR HISTORYLOCALS ON TRIPLE CROWN • SPORTS, A7

GARDENING

Lauterbach: Valleyhas many pests totest your patience

EXPLORE, E1

IDAHO CITY

FIRE, BUT A FUTURE

DARIN OSWALD / doswald@idahostatesman.com

Idaho City firefighters, including Robert Reynolds, above, worked all day to extinguish and mop up. The investigation into the cause of the fire could take weeks, officials said.

21

Ma

in S

tre

et

Kempner Avenue

King Road

Visitors

Center

Donna’s Place

Sarsaparilla Ice Cream Shop

Main Street Floral

Old Time Photo

Idaho TradingPost

Calamity Jayne’s

WHAT HAPPENED? Friday morning’s blaze in Idaho City took out an

entire block of businesses — all five of them ready for the all-impor-

tant tourism season. As the owners decide whether they’ll rebuild,

residents wonder what lasting effects the loss will have on a communi-

ty used to adversity. The Statesman’s Erin Fenner spent most of the

day talking to residents and business owners. DEPTH, D1

WHAT’S NEXT? The tiny mountain town is no stranger to tragic

fires. Despite the setbacks, longtime residents told the Statesman’s

Katy Moeller they are confident they’ll bounce back. DEPTH, D1

VIDEO AND PHOTOS: Link to this story at IdahoStatesman.com to

watch videos of the fire and its aftermath, listen to residents’ reactions

and check out a gallery of photographs from the day.

HOW TO HELP: Potential fundraisers for the fire victims were still in

their infancy Friday. DEPTH, D3

Southwest Idaho is a hotspot for exploring

questions about ecology, evolution and

conservation. The data collected here is

used around the world, Mark Rudin writes

in his monthly column. DEPTH, D1

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

BIRD MIGRATION ROUTE

A10-year study shows nearlyhalf of the 9 million peoplereceiving disability wereoverpaid by $17 billion. NEWS, A6

SOCIAL SECURITY

A PROGRAM IS EXPLOITED

Ramon Fry, who police saidpoured what appeared to begasoline on himself beforelighting it and jumping into afountain in Ontario, was shottwice by his former father-in-law three years ago in agarage described as a deathchamber. NEWS, A4

BURNED STUDENT

IDAHO MANHAD SURVIVEDSHOOTING IN ’12

ED LOTTERMAN — GAS TAX

WEIGHING COSTS TO TAXPAYERSAND COSTS TO SOCIETY DEPTH, D5

HELPING THE HOMELESS

Community meetings open door toprovide education and solutions NEWS, A4

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Idaho City didn’t lose any histor-ic buildings in Friday’s fire, but theblaze has dealt serious economicand emotional blows to the historicmining town, filled with hardysouls who wear many hats to makeends meet and keep the communi-ty humming.

The boardwalk on Main Streetwas the city’s shopping district — aplace where tourists could grab anice cream cone, get photos taken inold-time costumes and pick upnovelty gifts. Over the past few de-cades, it became iconic.

“That was kind of the face of ourtown — the entryway when youcome in,” said Beth Wilson, whohas lived in Idaho City for 35 years.“And it’s just gone.”

Some might say that Idaho Citywas forged out of fire — two blazesleveled the city in the 1860s. Struc-tures that were rebuilt after thosefires are still standing today, includ-ing St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.

In shock Friday, longtime resi-dents expressed both heartbreakand optimism.

“Who knows? Maybe this is go-ing to be the reflowering of IdahoCity,” said Bruce Reichert, host ofIdaho Public Television’s “Out-door Idaho” and a longtime resi-

dent of the area. “It would not sur-prise me. Idaho City is constantlyreinventing itself, and this is anoth-er opportunity.”

Reichert, who previouslyworked as a bartender, librarian,teacher and newspaper editor inIdaho City, remembers a brochurefrom the 1970s that referred to it as“The Ghost Town that Refused toDie.”

About a 45-minute drive fromBoise, Idaho City’s economy reliesheavily on tourism. Traffic to andthrough the city — which has about500 residents — picks up signifi-cantly on Memorial Day weekendand continues through the sum-mer. Hundreds of off-road motor-cyclists from all over descended onthe city last weekend for a racecalled the Idaho City 100.

“We’ve been going full guns,”said Trudy Jackson, owner of Tru-dy’s Kitchen, famous for its break-fast and pies — and for rebuildingafter a fire seven years ago.

The city has had its highs andlows over the years — at times it hasfelt like a ghost town — but theopening of several new businesses

IDAHO CITY FIRE

A history of rising from the ashes

Photos by DARIN OSWALD / doswald@idahostatesman.com

Residents look over the aftermath of Idaho City’s latest disaster, an early morning fire Friday that destroyed a city block along Main Street.

‘If anything brings thedysfunctional family of Idaho Citytogether, it’s something like this’

BY KATY MOELLER

kmoeller@idahostatesman.com© 2015 Idaho Statesman

See IDAHO CITY, D2

SEE MORE PHOTOS ANDFIND OUT HOW TO HELPD2-3

In Idaho, we’re fortunate to be lo-cated along an important birdmigration route. Our skies are

filled with an unusual array of rap-tors and songbirds, and our sage-brush plains are alive with ground-nesting birds. The state’s vast, un-tamed wilderness areas provide un-paralleled bird research opportuni-ties for universities, state andfederal agencies, and nonprofit or-ganizations across the West.

Because birds are fairly easy tospot and their populations and be-havior so readily monitored — in-cluding their flight patterns, foodpreferences, mating rituals andnesting routines — they are excel-lent indicators of environmentaland ecological health. In addition,birds also translate to billions of dol-

lars in economic impact throughsport, including hunting and birdwatching, and through retail salesfor bedding, clothing or food, mak-ing their well-being of particular in-terest.

Thanks to a critical confluence ofpeople, places and partnerships,Southwest Idaho is a hotbed for ex-

ploring basic research questionsabout ecology, evolution and con-servation efforts as they relate tobirds. Researchers are privileged tohave access to the highly regardedWorld Center for Birds of Prey andto protected areas across SouthwestIdaho, including the Morley NelsonSnake River Birds of Prey Conser-vation Area. Its nearly half millionacres are home to the largest con-centration of nesting raptors inNorth America — about 800 pairs ofowls, hawks, eagles and falcons.

Anumber of key government andnonprofit organizations also are in-vested in this area of research, in-cluding the U.S. Department of theInterior, U.S. Forest Service, U.S.

Universities, agencies are birdsof a feather in research

/ Boise State University

Biologist Micah Scholer, a former Boise State grad student, examines anorthern saw-whet owl. Birds are a good indicator of ecological health.

Research 101

MARK RUDIN

See BIRDS, D5

Calamity Jayne’s, SarsaparillaIce Cream Parlor, Main Street Flo-ral and Candle Shop, Old TimePhoto and Idaho City Trading Postwere completely destroyed by Fri-

day morning’s fire, along with onevacant storefront on the north endof the block.

Idaho City Fire Chief Terry Tee-ter said it took about four hours ofwork by four fire agencies, sevenfire engines and 25 firefighters toextinguish the four-alarm blaze,which started at about 2:45 a.m.

A full damage estimate wasn’tavailable Friday, but the BoiseCounty Assessor’s Office valuedthe entire complex at about

$311,000. It was “just a standard structural

fire; once it lights, it goes,” Teetersaid.

Idaho City resident Brandy Bur-tlow said the flames lit up thewhole community.

“You could have driven downthe highway with your lights off,”she said.

Rhonda Jameson, who has lived

Calamity Jayne’s cafe was one of five businesses lost.

Owners of gutted businesseswonder about their future

With the summer seasonbeginning, a tourism hub isdevastated.

BY ERIN FENNER

efenner@idahostatesman.com© 2015 Idaho Statesman

See FIRE, D2

D2 l WO2315 IDAHO STATESMAN l IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

had many optimistic that itwas on the rebound.

Jackson said her phonerang off the hook Friday asconcerned customers andsupporters called to be sureher business didn’t burndown. Jackson said she wasconcerned about the em-ployees who woke Friday tofind they’d lost their jobs.

“It probably put 30 or sopeople out of work, besidesthe business owners. Whenthere’s only 500 people inyour town, that’s a bigchunk,” Jackson said.

Skip and Donna Myers,who co-own the restaurantDonna’s Place, rebuilt theirbusiness after fires in 2004and 2010.

“After the first fire, we justwent ahead and put it backtogether,” Skip Myers said.“After the second fire, I hadto do a lot of thinking. We gota lot of ‘please do’s.’ ”

Myers said he’s concernedabout what the loss of theboardwalk will mean for tou-rism.

“It’s probably going to be arolldown effect,” he said.“We have 17 employees.We’ll probably have to lay offa couple. I’ve never laid peo-ple off.”

Jackie Bridwell, a formermayor who now works in theBoise County Sheriff’s Of-fice, said she felt sick to herstomach driving by theboardwalk Friday.

“It’s empty,” she said. But this is a town that has a

history of getting back upand fighting for its survival.

“It’s been my experienceup here that wheneverthere’s a tragedy, in the longrun, it ends up being betterthan before,” Wilson said. “Ifanything brings the dysfunc-tional family of Idaho City to-gether, it’s something likethis.”

Katy Moeller: 377-6413;

Twitter: @KatyMoeller

Photos by DARIN OSWALD / doswald@idahostatesman.com

Idaho City’s boardwalk, the entry to the town, is no more. “My heart breaks” driving by it,said Jackie Bridwell, a former mayor.

Idaho City has a population of about 500. If tourism is hurt by the fire, some of those couldlose their jobs.

IDAHO CITY

CONTINUED FROM D1

in Idaho City for 23 years andowns the Simply Fun toyshop on Main Street, said sheheard the town sirens goingoff at about 3 a.m.

She saw the flames fromher balcony window.

“The flames were way,way, really, really high,” Ja-meson said. “The powerlines were crackling.”

She and her husbandthrew on their clothes andwent out to wake neighborswho were still sleeping, de-spite the roar of the fire.Within 10 minutes, the firehad spread all the way downthe boardwalk, Jamesonsaid.

“Once we felt like every-body was awake, we cameback in and started callingeveryone that had business-es,” Jameson said.

THE HISTORY

Randy Barrett co-ownsthe entire destroyed blockwith his wife, Toni. “Fortyyears of my life is here,” hesaid. “This is a major changefor all of Idaho City.”

He and resident Bill Stir-ling recalled building thestring of stores over the past

four decades. It started whenStirling bought the land in1972.

“That side of Main Street(had) nothing on it,” Stirlingsaid, pointing to the ashes. Itwas “kind of a swamp.”

Barrett bought the landand three businesses fromStirling in 1984. He incorpo-rated two Forest Servicebuildings dating from the1920s into the parcel, nowcalled the “Vigilante Com-plex.” Preserving the historyof the community and shar-ing it with locals and touristswas meaningful work, Bar-rett said.

Barrett planned to sell theblock and said he hadreached a deal with prospec-tive buyers just two weeksago. He called them Fridaymorning and showed themphotos of the destruction. Heunderstood when theybacked out of the deal, hesaid.

He contacted his insur-ance and expects the compa-ny to help him rebuild, buthe’s concerned for his rent-ers, who lost their buildingsand the inventory theyplanned to push for the sum-mer season — the communi-ty’s most important econom-ic time of year.

Fire has ravaged other

Idaho City businesses in re-cent years. Donna’s Place,which is across the streetfrom the boardwalk, burneddown in 2004 and 2010. Tru-dy’s Kitchen was gutted byfire in 2008.

Friday’s fire burned theboardwalk businesses butstopped before spreading tothe historic Mercantile andBoise County Courthouse,which date back to the late1800s.

“Them buildings were re-ally old,” Stirling said of thegutted buildings he hadhelped assemble.

His wife, Joan, spoke ofseeing hard work devouredby flames, “It hurts prettybad for him to see what hebuilt burn down.”

THE FUTURE

Three events in June allbring much-needed busi-ness to Idaho City: the IdahoRally International, GoldDust Rodeo and Idaho CityFrontier Days.

“That’s a good amount ofmoney every weekend that(owners of the burned busi-nesses) are missing out on,”said Ashley Elliott, whoworked at Calamity Jayne’son the weekends. “Maybethis whole town will miss outon it if this boardwalk isn’t

here to stop at.”Those business owners

include Randy Barrett’sbrother, Jim, who runs Ca-lamity Jayne’s but couldn’tstand visiting the scene afterthe fire was out.

“This means everything

for my dad. This is his live-lihood,” said John Barrett,Jim’s son.

This would have beenBecky Gilbert’s sixth sum-mer running Sarsaparilla IceCream Parlor and MainStreet Floral and Candle.Nine employees are now outof work.

“I loved that shop,” shesaid, fighting back tears.

Randy Barrett purchasedthe ice cream shop in 1984. Ithas connected the businesscommunity to the highschool since then, he said.

“We’ve hired over 100 stu-dents here going through fortheir first jobs,” he said.

Jameson, the toy shopowner, spoke of a recentsound economy, with sevennew or reopening businessesmoving into the town.

The fire has put local busi-ness owners on edge, shesaid, and she worries about a“ripple effect” on other busi-nesses in the area.

“Do I have a business? Idon’t know. People wake upand they didn’t have a placeto go to work,” she said.

One of those businesses isWallula’s, a coffee shop that’sprepping for opening day.The owners, Bill and ConnieGillenwater, moved to IdahoCity just two weeks ago fromColumbus, Ohio.

Bill Gillenwater said thatwhen he heard the commo-tion Friday morning, he

rushed out of his house withwater bottles for the fire-fighters. When he saw whatwas happening, he took vi-deo with his phone. But he al-so felt a lump in his throatthat convinced him this com-munity was his new home, hesaid.

Only one thing will delaythe couple from forgingahead with their coffee shop,said Connie Gillenwater.

“If our friends need ourhelp, it may push (opening)back,” she said.

By late afternoon Friday,bulldozers had pushed muchof the debris from the fire offthe road and a wire fence sur-rounded the entire complex.Teeter said the hands-onpart of the investigationmight not wrap up until Sat-urday.

“This is the main portionof Idaho City. Without it, it’sgoing to change everything,”Randy Barrett said. “We justdon’t know what’s going tobecome of it now. Hopefullywe can make things happenagain and get it started backup.”

Erin Fenner: 377-6207

The Statesman’s Katy Moeller

contributed.

Idaho City Fire Chief Terry Teeter said the fire’s spread wasn’t surprising in a block withbuildings right next to each other. “Once it lights, it goes,” he said.

Owner Randy Barrett was in the process of selling the Idaho City property that was destroyed by the fire.

FIRE

CONTINUED FROM D1

8SEE MORE PHOTOS

AND VIDEO FROM

FRIDAY’S FIRE

IdahoStatesman.com

IDAHO STATESMAN l IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM WO2315 l D3

Photos by DARIN OSWALD / doswald@idahostatesman.com

Fire marshals collect samples from the scene right outside Calamity Jayne’s.

Randy Barrett, above, the owner of the block, talked about a “major change” for all of Idaho City.

Firefighters worked well into the day after it took four hours to put out the blaze,which started before 3 a.m.

Idaho City firefighters take a breather. It took more than four fire agencies to halt the blaze.

Randy Barrett, right, talks with other Idaho City residents along Main Street. He firstbought part of the block in 1984.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Fundraising efforts to benefit the block Friday were still developing.

Charles Sepulveda, who runs Old Time Photo, said he’s trying to figure out a

fundraiser to benefit the damaged block. His advice: Watch

Facebook.com/idahocity and #rebuildidahocity on Twitter for details.

Michelle Audette, Idaho City postmaster, said local motorcycle groups will

meet Saturday to discuss a possible fundraiser for the town and destroyed

businesses.