Valentine's Day Flowers Burn Near Boise

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Story Published: Feb 11, 2008 at 7:38 PM MDT

Story Updated: Nov 7, 2008 at 1:18 PM MDT

By Rick Montañez

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There are only 3 days and counting until Valentine's Day, which has florists working overtime. But, some local businesses counting on a shipment of flowers are going to be disappointed.

This isn't exactly the valentine many were hoping for. Just before 8 this morning, a delivery truck carrying the flowers caught fire on I-84 just east of Boise.

It's not a rosy sight. An entire truck full of flowers heading right here to eastern Idaho for valentines day, up in flames.

Saladore Escovel, delivery truck driver: "I was just just driving in and saw a whole bunch of smoke coming out of the box."

Crews say the fire started in the truck's refrigeration unit. They were coming from Boise's DWF wholesale flowers. And in this, the busiest time of year for florists, a loss this big, is like a thorn in their side.

Pat O'Dell: "It's probably the worst thing I've seen happen, it's a disaster."

The manager of DWF estimates about $50,000 in losses. He couldn't talk on camera because he was too busy calling his buyers, like Christine Newby in Pocatello, who was told to sit down for the bad news.

"I thought 'oh, crap' I should've sat down."

"They'll be doing whatever they can do get stuff flown in. There's some big orders there," says O'Dell.

"They are gonna be able to replace most of our flowers, not all of them," says Newby.

This truck load, unsalvagable. What wasn't burned wreaks of smoke.

"Well there might be some if you wanted to pick through all of them but for the most part, no its not going to be a happy valentines for a lot of people."

Black roses don't exactly scream 'I love you'.

DWF will only be able to replace a portion of their shipment, but flower shops like Christine's in Pocatello have found other suppliers from places like Miami.

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