Challis volunteer firemen cut a hole to get at the smoldering electrical fire and clear insulation, as homeowner Colby Gull and Captain Doug Hammond discuss the damage. Todd Adams photo

The house was filled with smoke, Colby Gull told The Challis Messenger, but he and wife Marsha were able to get all five of their children and the family dog out. Gull called the fire department at 6:59 a.m. and the first truck arrived on scene 13 minutes later. Firefighters were able to contain the fire where it started, near an electrical junction box between the first and basement floors.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Gull told The Messenger. “We were pretty lucky to get out with what [damage] we had.” He credited the fire department’s quick response for the favorable outcome.

The family evacuated to a neighbor’s house and is now staying at a local motel while they wait for repairs and smoke damage to be cleaned.

There were no visible flames when firefighters arrived, Captain Doug Hammond said, and they were able to find the source quickly due to black smoke trails on the sheetrock inside and the siding outside. The wall was hot near a junction box and the fire had burned through one floor joist and charred several others.

A breaker should have tripped off for that circuit, but didn’t, said Hammond, so he shut the main breaker down to keep firefighters safe. A Salmon River Electric crew arrived later to make sure the power was truly off.

Firefighters cut holes on the inside and outside of the wall and removed insulation to expose the fire, which they were able to put out with a fire extinguisher and about a quart of water sprayed on with a small fire hose.

Most of the damage was due to smoke, Fire Chief Launna Gunderson said. “My firemen did an incredible job keeping damage to a minimum.” They used a fan to expel smoke and minimized smoke damage down, Hammond said.

Because the family was at home, woke up and was able to evacuate and the firefighters had such rapid response time, a catastrophic fire was prevented, Gunderson said.

If the fire had spread outside the wall and found more oxygen, “it would have taken off” and caused severe damage, she said. “The fire department performed brilliantly.”

Five firemen responded with two trucks, along with the Challis ambulance, a Custer County sheriff’s deputy and the Salmon River Electric crew. The department cleared the scene at 8:25 a.m.

Gunderson said free smoke alarms are available at city hall.