Firefighters extinguish flames near Papa Murphy’s in Rigby
Published at | Updated at
RIGBY — A local restaurant was evacuated after a vehicle crash caused a fire near South Clark Street in Rigby and U.S. Highway 20.
The incident happened after 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Dispatch received a report that a driver was trapped inside their vehicle, and a power pole and lines were down.
Rigby Police Chief Allen Fullmer said a 44-year-old man was driving a 2019 Subaru north on Clark Street when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway and crashed into a power pole.
Fullmer said that the driver was able to exit from the passenger side door with assistance from officers.
The downed line arced electricity and ignited a grass and brush fire, which spread to nearby evergreen trees not far from Papa Murphy’s at 200 East Main Street. Due to the proximity of the flames, police evacuated the restaurant.
Central Fire Chief Nic White confirmed the vehicle was completely destroyed in the fire, but the restaurant was unharmed.
The fire was extinguished by 1:30 p.m., White said.
As of 3 p.m., several businesses along East Main and Clark Street have lost power. The stop lights at State Street and Main are also affected by the outage.
No major injuries were reported.
