BOISE, Idaho — One year ago, flames engulfed the Idaho Youth Ranch's main distribution center in Boise.
The fire destroyed almost everything in the center's outside yard, and smoke damaged everything inside the building. Nearly all the items inside the center had to be thrown away.
365 days after the devastating fire, the community came together to commemorate the Idaho Youth Ranch's resilience, and reflect on the progress they have made with rebuilding.
"It was a normal day, up until about 1:47 in the afternoon," Idaho Youth Ranch CEO Scott Curtis said. "And then things got really crazy."
That day was July 18, 2022, when flames erupted at the distribution center in Boise, drawing a response from more than 100 firefighters.
"So, it gave us hope, but at the same time we were watching a massive fire and wondering how are we going to get through this?" Curtis said.
Fire investigators ruled the cause of the fire undetermined. Boise Fire said they were not able to pinpoint a cause because of the amount of water used and because they had to remove items from the area where the fire started in order to put out the flames. Fire investigators did rule out a few potential causes of the fire, including fireworks, battery failure, smoking ash, electrical problems, operating equipment and incendiary.
An 11,000 square-foot storage building collapsed.
"There's a whole building," Curtis said. "That rebuild effort is taking some significant time."
Smoke damaged everything inside the distribution center.
"All of the clothing, everything that was in our antique area, all of our online sales, our books - all of that were determined to be a total loss," Curtis said.
The Idaho Youth Ranch is a nonprofit that offers emergency shelter, residential care, youth and family therapy, job readiness training, adoption services, and more for kids and their families. It relies heavily on its thrift stores around the state for funding for its youth programs and services. The distribution center provides a large chunk of the goods those stores sell.
A lot can change in just one year. The scorched sides of the distribution center serve as a reminder of that day, and as a reminder of the Idaho Youth Ranch's resilience.
"That was a significant effort to keep every one of our staff employed, to redeploy them in the stores," Curtis said. "Then when Interfaith Sanctuary stepped forward and allowed us to use their building as a temporary distribution center, that was a significant piece of this."
The community and Idaho Youth Ranch employees gathered outside the distribution center on the anniversary of the fire on Tuesday to reflect on the past year.
"Our staff have had to retool our processes and try to get us more efficient," Curtis said. "The communities have been patient as we haven't been able to take as many donations and have had different hours. And we're really roaring back now."
While more than 130 staff members are back working at the distribution center, Curtis said their rebuild has been more complicated than expected.
"There's just been so much activity in terms of evaluating what we need to rebuild, getting all of the permissions and approvals, and then also the process of working with insurance on what's covered and what isn't," Curtis said. "It's been a lot longer and more challenging than we had hoped."
The Youth Ranch is working to rebuild the outside storage structure that collapsed, though they can't predict a completion date.
Inside the distribution center, the nonprofit has been making adaptations and upgrading all their fire systems.
"Because the fire, there have been a number of code upgrades and things that we're having to change with our facilities," Curtis said. "So, we're still working on that internally."
A lot can change in just one year - but some things stay the same.
"One of the hallmarks of the Youth Ranch really is the camaraderie that exists among the staff, and the culture of support and joy - which is one of our values," Curtis said. "People really focus on relationships and they put time into them. Staff has had to go through a lot of challenges, moving to different work locations, even taking on different jobs temporarily. It's that support from each other, and also trust that the organization is doing everything it can to keep us focused on the mission. That's really helped us the last year."
Curtis said the fire has been a significant financial hurdle for the Youth Ranch to overcome.
"Our thrift operations have been hamstrung by a lack of efficiency waiting for us to get back to this spot," Curtis said. "So, we need the communities to continue supporting us - directly, through their donations and their support that way, psychologically through their messages of support, but also quite frankly through our thrift stores. The more people can donate goods to our thrift stores and shop at our thrift stores, the better off we are."
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