JEROME Tuesday April 30th -- Massive fire, heavy smoke, and a small explosion damaged several buildings and displaced dozens of people in downtown Jerome. Fire Chief Jack Krill tells KTVB the fire started around 4:30 p.m. in an apartment building on Main Street. Nine families, 40 to 50 people, lived in the apartments on the second floor. Two businesses on the building's first floor were destroyed and High winds pushed flames to surrounding buildings, including a cafe.
After a two week investigation by A team of city fire and police officials, state fire investigators and three private investigators from different insurance companies to determine the cause it was determined the fire was started after a hot glue gun was placed on a plastic chair. A woman who used to live in the apartment building was using the hot glue gun to make pinatas. She set down the glue gun when a customer came in, then left in a rush to pick up her children from school, accidentally leaving the glue gun on and because she made pinatas, there were plenty of papers and other highly flammable items in her apartment.
The estimated damage to the buildings is more than $1 million--the woman will not be cited for starting the fire because it was determined to be accidental.
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