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Crews battle structure fire in Canyon County

Posted at 7:21 PM, Aug 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-18 23:20:11-04

A home in Meridian is completely destroyed and two others received minor exterior damage after a fire near I-84.

Fire officials said they don't know the cause of the fire, but they do know it started near the freeway and spread extremely quickly up to the homes in the area. 

Fire crews got the call just before 6:30 Friday evening from people driving down the freeway who could see the fire.

Flames ripped through the home, some reaching heights of what looked like 50 feet. Smoke could easily be seen for miles. 

No one was hurt but scenarios like this have crews extremely worried of what the eclipse weekend has in store. 

"All fire agencies are concerned about that increased people driving down the highways and future event happening like this so it's very important for the public to know to be aware that it doesn't take very long for a very small fire on the edge of the highway to rapidly progress and just like, in this case, burn a house to the ground," said Division Chief Charlie Butterfield of the Meridian Fire Department.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Fire crews encourage everyone at this time of the year to make sure they have defensible space around your home.