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REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) — Eight structures and their contents are a total loss after an outdoor cooking fire grew into a massive blaze at the old Thornton Merc south of Rexburg Wednesday night.

The owner of the Thornton Merc, a community gathering place and grill, lost both her home and business in the flames.

The blaze was caused by a cookout gone awry.

“A family was back in this area having a hot dog roast,” said Madison Fire Department Chief Corey Child. “When they started the fire, the fire quickly spread to cotton from the cottonwood trees. And with the bit of wind blowing, it quickly spread to multiple structures.”

The fire devastated three residences, including a double-wide and single-wide trailer behind the mercantile.

It also destroyed the historic Thornton post office.

Local News 8 spoke with another woman who lost everything she owned in the blaze.

Her grandfather, whose last name was Thornton, built the post office.

Through tears, she said that other neighbors lost their homes, business and all their possessions.

According to the Madison Fire Department, the fire began around 6:16 p.m. near 4856 S. Yellowstone Hwy., in the Thornton area south of Rexburg.

RELATED: Thornton fire contained, evacuation lifted after five buildings destroyed

When they arrived on scene, fire crews found multiple buildings on fire. Quickly working to protect the surrounding homes and structures, the firefighters immediately evacuated the nearby Wind Willows RV Park.

In a massive effort, firefighters from the Central Fire District, South Fremont Fire District, and North Fremont Fire District and Idaho Falls Fire Department, along with Deputies from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, provided aid to the Madison firefighters.

As the group battled to contain the fire, evacuated RV park residents sheltered at a nearby LDS Stake Center. The local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Red Cross, and Chaplains of Idaho provided on-site resources and assistance to the displaced families.

Throughout the night, 44 personnel working at the scene were able to contain the fire, according to an official update Thursday morning.

Despite the loss of the eight structures, the Madison Fire Department has confirmed that, fortunately, no one was injured.

However, Deputy Chief Troyce Miskin warns this incident is a sign of a challenging summer ahead.

“We’re sad any time these types of things happen. This is going to be a very dangerous fire season for us. We’ve already had numerous structure fires this spring. We just ask people to exercise extreme caution when using fire in any manner,” said Troyce Miskin, Deputy Chief of Madison Fire Department.

YELLOWSTONE (KIFI) – As warmer temperatures arrive earlier than usual across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, wildlife experts say the current spring conditions are creating a dangerous rise in human-bear encounters heading into the busy summer tourism season.

Bears emerged from hibernation early this spring after a mild winter with below-average snowpack, while millions of visitors and locals are already returning to Yellowstone National Park and surrounding recreation areas. Wildlife officials say the combination is increasing the likelihood of potentially deadly encounters.

Earlier this month, two hikers were seriously injured in a bear attack near Yellowstone’s Mystic Falls Trail, a popular southern bowl pathway close to Old Faithful. Park officials believe a mother grizzly with cubs may have been involved in the attack. The incident prompted temporary trail closures and renewed safety warnings from the National Park Service and Idaho Fish and Game.

“Did they come out maybe earlier than they usually do? Yeah, that’s probably the case,” said Eric Freeman, regional wildlife manager. “Lack of snow on the landscape and warmer temperatures likely contributed.”

Wildlife experts say bears are especially active during the spring as they search for food after months of hibernation. While some animals have benefited from the warm winter conditions, the overall food chain in the Yellowstone ecosystem has been affected by a decline in weakened prey, leading to significant changes in movement and behavioral patterns.

“It’s always a great idea just to give animals their space,” said James Brower with Idaho Fish and Game. “Any animal — whether it’s a bear, moose, or even a deer — if they feel cornered or think their young are being threatened, they may become aggressive.”

A recent encounter in eastern Idaho is also highlighting how quickly outdoor recreation can become dangerous during peak wildlife activity.

According to Idaho Fish and Game, a father fishing with his young son near Ashton in the Targhee National Forest was forced to shoot a charging grizzly bear in what officials described as a split-second decision to save their lives.

Wildlife educators say even experienced outdoorsmen can find themselves in unpredictable situations.

“Obviously, there have been recent incidents, and there are going to be risks that are outside of our control,” said Tut Fuentevilla, curator of education at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. “You can do everything right, and things can still go wrong.”

Fuentevilla says the region’s mild winter may also be affecting natural food sources that bears rely on in the spring.

“We didn’t really have a strong snow year this winter,” Fuentevilla explained. “That means there are fewer stresses on elk and bison populations. Carcasses from animals that don’t survive winter are usually a significant spring food source for bears. This year, there’s a lot less of that.”

As a result, hungry bears may be traveling farther in search of food — including near campsites, trails, neighborhoods, and improperly secured garbage.

Officials are urging anyone spending time outdoors in bear country to carry bear spray, properly dispose of trash in bear-proof containers, make noise while hiking, and never leave food unattended.

“At the end of the day, be bear aware,” Brower said. “Don’t pretend like they don’t exist.”

Experts also stress the importance of knowing how to use bear spray before heading into the wilderness.

“Bears have an extremely reliable fight-or-flight response to bear spray,” Fuentevilla said. “If a bear approaches, use quick bursts aimed low. And if the bear gets close enough, empty the canister into its face.”

With outdoor activity expected to increase throughout the summer, officials say awareness, preparation, and keeping a safe distance from wildlife could save lives.

“Let animals be animals,” Brower added. “Let them be wild.”

By Brad Lendon, CNN

(CNN) — The crash of two US Navy jets at an Idaho air show last weekend is raising questions about why the Pentagon risks multimillion-dollar warplanes – and their crews – for entertainment.

“Those calls are almost always part of the noise surrounding an accident,” said John Venable, a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and a former US Air Force fighter pilot.

Sunday’s accident during the Gunfighter Skies Air Show at Mountain Home Air Force Base involved two Navy EA-18 Growlers, an electronic warfare aircraft based on the F/A-18 fighter jet platform.

The jets were assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 from Whidbey Island, Washington, and crewed by members of the Growler Airshow Team, according to a Navy statement.

After the two jets collided mid-air, the four air crew ejected successfully, with only one requiring hospital treatment for non-life threatening injuries, the statement said.

Growlers cost around $68 million apiece, according to a 2021 Navy fact sheet, but replacement costs would be much higher. Production of the EA-18 jets has ended, although Boeing still has F/A-18s under construction.

Operating costs for jets in the F/A-18 family run about $20,000 an hour, according to a 2022 Boeing press release.

So why burn through that amount of money while risking multimillion-dollar hardware and the lives of skilled crew simply to delight the crowds?

Feats of daring

The Growler Airshow Team is just a small part of the US military’s lineup of demonstration teams, who perform daring maneuvers at air shows year-round.

The most well-known are the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, which have headlined dozens of events each year for decades flying with their distinctive liveries.

Annual budgets for each team are not publicly disclosed, and the Pentagon did not provide figures after several CNN requests.

But, according to a 2012 cost-benefit analysis by three Navy officers attending the service’s post-graduate school in California, the Blue Angels budget was about $98.6 million. That amount covered personnel, travel expenses, aircraft and equipment maintenance, operations and support costs.

Congress in 2024 required the Pentagon to perform a new cost-benefit study, but to date the military has not released any public figures.

The 2012 paper found an extremely lopsided cost-benefit balance from the Navy’s Blue Angels team.

For more than $98 million spent on the Blue Angels in a year, the Navy came away with less than $1 million in recruiting benefits, a negative 99% return on investment, the officers concluded.

If “goodwill” – things like the economic benefit of air show spending to nearby communities – the cost-benefit ratio narrows considerably, but still yielded a negative 41% return on investment, the study found.

“The costs outweigh the benefits,” the study said.

The tens of millions spent by the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds are only part of the Pentagon’s community outreach though.

Venable said the two teams combined can only do around 70 of the 325 to 350 air shows put on in North America every year.

That’s where demonstration units like the Growler team come in.

“Both the Air Force and the Navy really value smaller venues that can’t get a major jet team, which is why teams like the EA-18G Growler Demonstration Team exist,” Venable said.

“The services have created small demonstration teams that, when requested, can serve those communities” that otherwise wouldn’t get to see military flying, he added.

Though the Thunderbirds were on the program for the Mountain Home show, the military will sometimes add smaller demonstration teams like Growlers, if the schedule allows, Venable said.

Uniting communities

No matter if it’s the full-time demonstration teams or smaller teams like the Growlers, air show flying involves risk. The aircraft fly close together – formation flying – and close to the ground while traveling at hundreds of miles an hour.

Deadly accidents have occurred, including the infamous 1982 “Diamond Crash” in Arizona, when four Thunderbirds pilots were killed during a practice flight while rehearsing for their upcoming show season.

In 1994, a B-52 bomber crashed during a practice flight for an air show in Washington state. An investigation concluded the pilot tried unsafe maneuvers not suitable for an eight-engine bomber.

More recently an Air Force major was killed during a practice session in 2018, and in 2016, a Blue Angels pilot was killed in a crash before a show in Tennessee.

Despite the dangers and the numbers shown in the 2012 study, Venable said the military sees the demonstrations as worth the risk.

“Most (people) can’t see or heavily discount the public affairs and recruiting benefits, but both are sizable,” Venable said.

Air shows can draw tens or even hundreds of thousands of spectators on a weekend. That can provide “connective tissue” between the community and the services, and an appreciation of the work military members do, he said.

“The real purpose of a military air show is to give people a sense of the precision and professionalism of the military to people who wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to see it and, in a special few, spark the urge to serve,” Venable said.

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REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) — A 23-year-old Rexburg man, William S. Messer, has been charged with two felony counts of distribution of child sexually exploitative material (child pornography) following an mutli-month Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation.

The investigation began on Feb. 11 after the Rexburg Police Department received a CyberTip from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office ICAC Task Force.

On Wednesday, May 20, detectives executed a search warrant at Messer’s apartment near 5th West and University Blvd. Following a search of the residence and subsequent follow-up investigation, Rexburg police took Messer into custody.

Messer was arraigned in Madison County Court on May 21st. If convicted on the felony charges, Messer faces a maximum of 30 years in state prison and a possible fine of up to $50,000.

The operation involved a massive multi-agency effort. Rexburg police were assisted by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Falls Police Department, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the Idaho ICAC Task Force, the Rocky Mountain Information Network (RMIN), the Madison County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

In a news release, Rexburg PD highlighted the inter-agency partnership that led to the arrest.

“Cases involving the exploitation of children are taken extremely seriously, and this investigation highlights the strong partnership between local, state, and regional agencies working together to protect vulnerable individuals.”