UPDATE (4:15 p.m.): Police confirmed that a two-year-old girl died in the truck fire. Two adults, a mother and father, were outside the vehicle when the fire started and were able to rescue a 10-month-old and 4-year-old from the truck.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation and police say it appears to be accidental. The parents and two children were taken to a local hospital.
Drivers are asked to avoid the residential area near Irving Street and Manville Street on the Boise Bench while police and fire officials investigate what caused a pickup truck to go up in flames late Thursday morning, sending multiple victims to the hospital with injuries.
"I noticed the flames, I heard the screams so I ran outside but by the time it was totally engulfed in flames,” says Myron Boland.
Myron Boland lives on Edgemont Street. on the Boise Bench and heard a loud pop Thursday morning.
When he went to check it out, he saw a pickup truck, covered in flames.
Massive plumes of smoke were visible from the Boise connector on Thursday morning. Boise Police, Fire, and paramedics were dispatched to the scene around 11:15 a.m.
Boland says, “I called 911 but apparently somebody had just before me.”
A massive response, from Boise Police, Fire and paramedics had the area blocked off around West Irving and North Manville Street.
"This is the first time in my life where I heard screams, and I didn't get up and run to help I don't know why I didn't, I didn't know anybody was hurt I feel terrible about that,” says Boland.
The street was blocked off with police tape. Law enforcement spent hours on scene talking to neighbors.
Artsiom Charnou was playing a video game when his roommate told him a truck was on fire, outside of their home.
He says, “I didn’t realize how close it was until I walked outside, and it was four houses away. It was maybe a minute before all the ambulances started arriving and then everything was blocked off, I couldn't see anything,”
I spent the afternoon talking with several neighbors who live nearby.
Some tell me it sounded like an explosion.
Boise Police have yet to identify those involved, but many neighbors tell me it impacted a family of four.
Myron Boland says, “well I knew that they had children so I was hoping they didn't have kids in the car and it looked like the dad he was away from the car so I was kind of assuming that they got the kids out or at least hoping it but emergency vehicles were here really quickly.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
