Firemen evacuate Scout group from 17 Mile Cave (ID)

[RememberSchiff 3663]

Another cave rescue.

Lots of preparation and excitement was put into this Boy Scout Troop's big snow camping trip in the caves near Idaho Falls and then early this Sat Feb 24 morning around 2:40 a.m. everything went wrong.

The reports to Idaho Falls Fire Department  and  Bonneville County Sheriff's Office said that there was smoke, lots of smoke coming from inside the 17 Mile Cave  where 13 Boy Scouts and five leaders were camping.

Upon the first engine’s arrival, Boy Scouts and leaders were evacuating the cave. Three additional ambulances were requested. An additional engine, a battalion chief and the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene.

Crews entered the cave and began a search. Additional ambulances and engines arrived on scene to triage people and search the cave.

A total of 13 Boy Scouts and 5 leaders were evacuated. Four additional people were in the cave, two of which reportedly fled the scene.

Some individuals suffered minor smoke inhalation, but no civilians or firefighters were injured. There were no ambulance transports to the hospital.

http://wow1043.com/13-idaho-boy-scouts-evacuated-from-cave/

https://idahostatejournal.com/news/local/boy-scouts-evacuated-from-east-idaho-cave/article_21e99121-d078-5187-9e2c-9fba6e57049d.html

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/02/boy-scouts-leaders-evacuated-17-mile-cave-following-fire/

Edited February 25, 2018 by RememberSchiff

[CalicoPenn 729]

Confusing story - and incomplete.  The headline implies the fire department evacuated the Scouts.  The story suggests that the Scouts evacuated themselves, as well as the non-scouts in the cave.

The stories don't say what caused the smoke.  Commenters are already trying to fill in the blanks and are blaming a campfire (implying the scouts built the fire).  Maybe it was a campfire, and maybe the scouts built it, but two people ran from the scene so its possible they built the fire and fled because they knew they did something stupid and didn't want to take responsibility for it.

Unfortunately, this is one of those stories that appear in the news media with Scouts as the hook that is never followed up on later.  I doubt there will be a follow-up story about the cause of the fire - and the Scouts will be blamed in people's minds with or without justification.

 

 

 

[RememberSchiff 3663]

Good points. Maybe when the smoke clears , we will know more. I have not camped in a cave, nor have I built a fire in a cave.  Someone obviously got outside the cave to call 911.

[RememberSchiff 3663]

Clarke Farrer,  SE Grand Teton Council, commented

"The Scouts did not light the fire. After the Scouts and their leaders had gone to sleep, another group entered the cave, built a fire, and were partying. It was the smoke from their fire that caused the problems. "

Which could explain why two of that party of four others "reportedly fled the scene".

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/02/boy-scouts-leaders-evacuated-17-mile-cave-following-fire/

https://idahostatejournal.com/news/local/boy-scouts-evacuated-from-east-idaho-cave/article_21e99121-d078-5187-9e2c-9fba6e57049d.html

[RememberSchiff 3663]

Update from KIFI/KIDK news:

There were three groups of Boy Scouts in the 17 Mile Cave when it filled with smoke early Saturday morning but, it wasn't their fire. The scouts say a group of young men entered the cave while they were sleeping and played loud music and spray painted the walls before leaving. The first scout troop left, and the young men came back an hour later.

"They were awakened by the sound of wood being dropped through the entrance," Clarke Farrer, Scout Executive for the Grand Teton Council Boy Scouts, said. "They said there was a loud noise. They didn't know what it was so they got up to find out what was going on. They saw bundles of firewood being thrown down inside the cave."

The group built a fire inside the cave and began cooking hot dogs and drinking. 

"The scout leaders went over to them and said that there was scouts there," Farrer said. "And that they were bothering them and that the smoke from their fire was filling the cave and kids didn't care."

That's when the other two scout troops decided to call 9-1-1 and evacuate. 

"The real sad part about the story is that the EMS person told the scout leaders that if either they had remained asleep or if they had stayed in that cave much longer that it's possible all of them could have been overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning and it could have been deadly," Farrer said.

More at Source link with video:

http://www.localnews8.com/news/fire-that-caused-17-mile-cave-evacuation-not-started-by-boy-scouts/708152681

[CalicoPenn 729]

Glad to see there was follow-up.