An alarm system triggered by the fire let Bureau of Land Management employees know their Challis office was burning Tuesday morning.
The fire, which began around 2:00 a.m., gutted the 14-year-old building. The walls are still standing, but the roof is almost completely destroyed and the inside is scorched black.
Jesse Bender is with the BLM in Idaho Falls, and says the extent of the damage to computers and documents in the Challis office is unknown. She says the 25 employees in the office are all safe, and that no one was in the building during the fire. Bender says the BLM is considering options for a temporary workspace for the Challis employees in the town.
State investigators have begun searching for clues of possible arson. But Bender says at this point, there’s no reason to think the fire was set intentionally. She says no threats had been made against employees at the BLM field office.
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