UPDATE: Late Wednesday night residents looked to the sky and saw a bright orange skyline lit by flames as a fire flared up in this small Payette County community burning about a third of the roughly 48 acre farm that was once the Fruitland Nursery.
"It could have been one of these homes, it could have been my son's home, or your home. Anybody's around here," says Fruitland resident Gerrie Wood.
The farmland, although right across the street from the Fruitland Fire Department, is actually under the jurisdiction of the Payette Rural Fire District. That team was able to quickly respond with 16 rigs, two from our western neighbor in Nyssa.
Luckily no one was hurt and residents I spoke to like Gerrie, whose son and daughter-in-law live feet from the fire line, say they're glad it wasn't worse.
"If the wind had right or shifted or changed, it could have been really a disaster," Wood added.
We've reached out to fire crews to see if they know what started the fire but have not yet heard back.
Original Story:
We're seeing overnight reports of a major fire in Fruitland.
We've reached out to the Payette County Sheriff's Office who tell us they'll release more information shortly, however the area scorched by the fire is across from Fruitland City Hall, at the former Fruitland nursery.
At this time it appears the only structural damage is to a pole barn and some old farm trucks.
Idaho News 6 Neighborhood Reporter Keith Burrell spoke with neighbors in the area, they believe the flames may have been caused by aerial fireworks which are illegal in the state of Idaho.
Fruitland Police say that authorities in the area have responded to thirteen different calls related to fires in the past week, some of which destroyed structures.
