Five Years Ago Today: The Fire at Table Rock [Photos]
I remember it as if it were yesterday-- the fire that blazed through the Boise foothills--but not just any part of the foothills, we're talking the most iconic portion of them: Table Rock. Just the name "Table Rock" rings home to anyone in the area. For locals like me, it might have been where you snuck off to in high school to shotgun your first beer or kiss your first crush. For those moving into town, it's the place that they try and list off to assimilate in Boise and sound like they know they're way around town-- wink, wink.
Five years ago today, we watched as crews worked overtime to put out a blaze like I have never seen before. At the time, I was on the radio from 7:00 p.m. until Midnight here and that always meant that I was driving home LATE. My route home was along Parkcenter Boulevard--as it still is--and the view of the Table Rock cross lit up is always prominent. As I came around the corner, near the Red Robin and Parkcenter Pond, I saw a fire unlike any I have ever seen. It literally looked like the city was about to burn down. It was that view that made me realize just how close Table Rock really is to town. It was as if a giant ball of fire had hit Boise--no photos do what that sight looked like, any sort of justice.
We were on this long before any local news channels had broken the information. I remember taking your phone calls well after midnight live on the radio and checking in with fire officials to get information to the public. It was a really intense night on the radio.
As we got into the Fourth of July and temperatures are nearly record-breaking highs--here are some photos to remind you of what that blaze looked like atop Table Rock, five years ago, today.
Table Rock Fire of 2016
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