Looking Back: Fire destroys Victor school; and three pizza parlor employees taken hostage following armed robbery

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of April 13 to April 19 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

SUGAR CITY — A woman in Madison County traveled to Boise to ask the pardon board to release her husband from the state penitentiary, The Rexburg Standard reported on April 13, 1915.

The wife of Joseph M. Hunt appeared before the pardon board and asked that her husband be released and return with her to care for her and their children. They reportedly had “no means of support” and were “in need and want.”

“The woman pleaded piteously for the pardon and release of her husband,” the paper wrote. “With her children gathered around her and with the youngest child on her lap, she told of the hardships she had endured.”

The woman said she spent everything she had to make the trip to Boise on behalf of her husband. She mentioned that all she and the children had were the clothes they wore, and without him, she didn’t know what she would do.

The members of the pardon board were “interested and affected” by the case and sympathized with her and her children.

She said her husband had been good to her and that she had been led by others into trouble. She promised that if he got released, she would make sure he stayed out of trouble.

The warden of the penitentiary said Hunt had a bad record. He mentioned that Hunt had been made a “trusty,” but Hunt violated the confidence placed in him and tried to escape.

“The members of the board felt that they wanted to do something for the woman but could not, in their official capacity, give the man his release on account of the record he had made,” the article reads.

1926-1950

VICTOR — A fire gutted the Victor school building, bringing the school year to an early close for 230 students, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on April 15, 1940.

The blaze started on a Saturday night. It was discovered by a group of young people coming home from a party. They saw the flames and immediately got help, but the fire could not be contained. The paper said the fire left only a skeleton framework standing.

It’s not clear what caused the blaze, but it started in the auditorium and went up an air vent into the attic.

The loss was estimated at between $40,000 and $45,000, according to James Kunz, chairman of the school board.

The school building housed both the high school and elementary students. Band instruments, typewriters, books and school records were all lost in the fire.

F.C. Gillett, school district clerk, said there was no way classes would continue. The 1939 to 1940 school year would have normally lasted for another five weeks.

Members of the board wanted to have the structure rebuilt during the summer. Nine teachers were employed at the school.

1951-1975

RIRIE — Six juveniles were taken to the county jail after being caught with beer, The Rigby Star reported on April 16, 1953.

Sheriff Howard Shaffer and George Benham, state liquor commissioner, raided several cars being driven by juveniles on a Saturday night. Single bottles and cases of beer were discovered in the cars.

Once they were taken to jail, the sheriff called the parents of the juveniles and asked where “their young sons” were.

“The parents of the lads at Shelley, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, St. Anthony, and Rexburg (none being from Ririe) were very much surprised to learn of the whereabouts of their sons,” the paper said.

The parents were asked to come “claim their boys.”

“Further investigations will be made as a means of putting the brakes on juvenile delinquency,” Shaffer mentioned. “Those responsible for selling beer to minors will be prosecuted and their license revoked.”

Shaffer pointed out that the beer recovered that night was not purchased in Ririe.

He also said that “high-powered cars and money given to youngsters, without personal parental strict supervision, is responsible for a lot of resultant headaches for which the kids are not wholly to blame.”

1976-2000

POCATELLO — The manager and two employees of Pocatello’s Grizzly Bear Pizza Parlor were taken hostage following an armed robbery, the Idaho State Journal reported on April 14, 1977.

The three hostages were manager Steve Sulfridge, Darlene Davis and Bill McEiduff. It wasn’t clear why the hostages were taken in the robbery.

Pocatello Police received a CB radio report about the incident. When officers arrived at the pizza parlor, nobody was there. The suspect reportedly told the hostages, “I’m the guy they are looking for up at Ketchum.”

He forced the store manager to open a safe and took about $270 in cash. The suspect then made the hostages get into a red car, which apparently belonged to the owner of the pizza parlor, Lee Barnes.

They drove to a cabin in the Smith Canyon area. The man ordered the hostages to stay at the cabin for two hours, but the son of Idaho Gov. John Evans ended up on the scene in about 15 minutes with a CB radio. He notified authorities.

Idaho State Police notified Pocatello police that the hostages were found and okay at Lava Hot Springs. Police chief John Perkins said the details were “far from clear,” but it appeared the hostages were released rather than escaped.

The hostages were taken back to Pocatello. Officials said they were not harmed or injured in any way.

At the time of publication, the suspect had not been found. It was indicated that the suspect was armed with a “large revolver.”

The suspect’s vehicle was stopped on the Smith Canyon Road. A police unit within 100 yards of the car reported no movement inside the vehicle. Idaho State Police were putting up roadblocks near Arimo and at Smith Canyon, southwest of Lava.

The suspect was described as having dark brown hair and wearing a dark brown coat. Police said the man had a two-day beard growth.