Driggs fire 'under investigation'

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Story Published: Nov 20, 2009 at 6:18 PM MDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2009 at 7:13 PM MDT

By Steven Pope

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DRIGGS - Lumberyards and fires just don't go well together.

But there's also some irony here, because Western Heritage Timber was recently asked by the county to cease and desist operations due to multiple fire hazzards.

"I really can't comment as to whether or not we believe it's an arson fire or not. That part of it is still under investigation," said Teton Fire Chief Mike Hoyle.

Investigators at the scene are trying to determine whether the fire was natural.

"They put out the fire before it became unmanageable," said Teton Sheriff Tony Liford.

That's in part because the fire station is less than a mile away down Main Street.

A garage door that firefighters had to remove to extinguish the fire, left a gaping hole in the building.

"We were able to gain access to the building, we had to force entry," said Holye.

Just a couple of months ago, the prosecutors office filed a cease and desist order against the business... saying there were a number of fire hazards on the site.

"What sort of violations were there?" I asked the Fire Chief.

"Some doors were blocked. There again we don't know if that was done intentionally or not. There was a high pile of combustibles," said Hoyle.

"I agree with that, I'd say if the fire department hadn't reacted as quickly as they had, this would have been a totally engulfed building," said Liford.

A lot of lumber was removed from the site just a few days ago.

The Teton County Fire Department has also requested help in this investigation from the state fire marshal's office.

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