MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — A Wednesday evening press conference at the Elmore County Sheriff's Office brought new updates on Tuesday night's RA 1 fire in Mountain Home. Officials shared an update on the condition of injured first responders, and questions were raised about why some residents never received emergency notifications.
WATCH: Latest updates on Tuesday night's RA 1 Fire in Mountain Home
Six first responders were injured in the fire. One Elmore County deputy remains hospitalized, but Idaho State Police District 3 Captain Michael Winans said she is expected to be released soon.
"We have a wind event going on. It was even worse last night. The wind had shifted and the fire came incredibly close to her. She got trapped basically," Winans said.
RELATED | Mountain Home fire under investigation as injured deputy recovers in hospital
All residents who lost homes are reportedly accounted for. Officials say they are still determining how many structures burned and whether any civilians were hurt. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. All roads have reopened.
Some residents said emergency alerts never reached their phones during the chaos of Tuesday night.
Mountain Home neighbor Phyllis Girty recalled looking at her iPhone — silent — while her husband's flip phone rang with an alert in the same room.
"We listened to that, and I was like well, that's kind of weird that I didn't get anything on mine because I have an iPhone and I usually get alerts like that, but I didn't get anything," Girty said.
RELATED | WATCH: Elmore County Sheriff's Office press conference on Mountain Home fire
Girty said much of her information came through Facebook. She said she believes the communication process needs improvement.
"I think that there needs to be a little bit better letting people know about what's going on, and especially people that are closer," Girty said.
Winans said many evacuations were carried out face-to-face, with crews knocking on doors as the fast-moving fire advanced.
Radio traffic from Elmore County Sheriff's officers captured the urgency on the ground Tuesday around 7:22 p.m.
"We need help. I need people to start heading down Smith and bang on doors," responders said.
Officials stated that rapidly changing conditions made it difficult to send alerts quickly.
Mountain Home Fire radio traffic from the scene at 7:06 PM on Tuesday reflected the fast-moving threat.
"We do have some structures here that are going to be threatened, so I'm going to need to make sure that we get engine 15, engine 14 responding out to this area as well," responders urged.
Winans acknowledged the difficulty of coordinating a response under those conditions.
"It was a chaotic scene with a lot of first responders on the ground trying to coordinate the response," Winans said.
Officials are reminding residents to sign up for Elmore County's AlertSense program, available on the county Emergency Management website.
Residents impacted by the fire are encouraged to contact the Red Cross Duty Agent at 406-215-1514.
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