BANCROFT — When fires erupted in this small Caribou County town on Friday afternoon and again Saturday night, there were no formal sirens summoning help.
Instead, a community of barely 300 residents answered the call with an inspiring display of rural solidarity that likely saved their town from disaster.
The weekend that tested Bancroft began shortly after 2 p.m. Friday when strong winds caused a backyard burn pit fire to spread to a house on the 200 block of South Main Street, authorities said.
The entire back of the residence was quickly engulfed in flames.
Fierce gusts carried burning embers down the block like fireflies of destruction, igniting a second home, a former theater building and the back of an empty apartment building under renovation. Multiple propane tanks exploded in the chaos and flames jumped across South Main Street, making the situation appear hopeless.
For 18-year-old Lukky Welker, the crisis became a literal baptism by fire. He had signed up as a volunteer firefighter with the Bancroft Fire Department less than 24 hours earlier and found himself running toward danger wearing only a department hoodie, jeans and T-shirt.
“We got the call and as soon as we ran over there (to the fire station) to start the trucks, adrenalin kicked in,” Lukky said. “I think I was in more of a panic because I wasn’t sure what needed to be done and how to operate things. I wasn’t scared. If anything I initially just panicked and as soon as we started spraying water, I was more calm and just knew that work needed to get done.”
Watching her son fight his first fire, let alone a blaze that threatened their entire town, was terrifying for his mother Nikki Welker.
“Lukky was on the front lines in his jeans and T-shirt with no training,” she said. “There was a propane cylinder that exploded in front of him just seconds before he turned to run. He had lost his footing and stumbled to regain his balance when the house crumbled behind him. Complete panic was all I felt, knowing his safety was entirely out of my hands in that moment.”
But Lukky wasn’t alone in his courage.
What unfolded Friday in Bancroft became a testament to rural America’s tradition of neighbors helping neighbors.
“This is why I live in rural America,” said Caribou County Sheriff Adam Mabey, who resides in Bancroft. “People don’t hesitate to help each other out.”
Despite mounting challenges — fierce winds, fast-moving flames and water supply issues — the collective effort of townsfolks and firefighters began to turn the tide. Helena Ag Services deployed its fleet of tanker trucks to shuttle water from Grace to Bancroft, while local farmers joined with their own tanker trucks. In one of the day’s most memorable moments, a crop duster pilot began flying sorties over the burning buildings, dropping water on the flames from above.
Firefighters arrived from the Caribou County, Soda Springs, Grace and Bear Lake County departments.
New Bancroft Fire Chief James Hainline, who hasn’t even been sworn in, said he counted more than 50 firefighters battling the blaze in his small town.
A Bancroft Fire Department vehicle was caught in the firestorm and heavily damaged but somehow the town beat back the flames that threatened its existence.
It was a total community effort.
Residents who weren’t dragging hoses through Bancroft’s smoke-filled streets provided food and beverages to the exhausted firefighters. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened the local church building as a relief center, while the Lions Club building served the same purpose.
Hainline said field and brush fires are common in the Bancroft area but house and structure fires are rare, so having two such blazes in less than 48 hours was unbelievably unusual.
But by Friday night the flames were almost entirely extinguished and firefighters were mopping up the few remaining hot spots.
The house near the burn pit was completely destroyed, while the second home and former theater suffered extensive damage and are likely not salvageable. The apartment building sustained only minor exterior damage.
An adult male resident in the home near the burn pit suffered minor injuries escaping the blaze, authorities said.
The American Red Cross responded to help the displaced families. One family is currently with relatives while the other is temporarily staying at a local Airbnb.
The fire knocked out power for all of Bancroft’s residents, but Rocky Mountain Power crews responded and restored everyone’s electricity by Saturday.
Firefighters remained on the scene of the fire well into Saturday making sure the flames didn’t rekindle.
But just as they thought it was safe to go home and get some sleep another emergency was reported.
Around 9 p.m. Saturday a fire had started in the chimney of a home at 315 S. 1st E. and was quickly spreading through the residence.
The same Bancroft firefighters who had battled Friday’s blaze — some running on little to no sleep — immediately responded.
And once more, powerful winds complicated their efforts.
Just like on Friday, the Grace and Caribou County fire departments were called in to assist and local farmers again rolled in their tanker trucks full of water to help.
The firefighters worked until 2 a.m. Sunday to extinguish the flames, successfully preventing the fire from spreading to adjacent homes. The house was a total loss, but there were no injuries. The residents of the home safely escaped after attempting to fight the fire themselves.
Their dog got out as well.
As the smoke cleared and ashes settled after the most challenging weekend in Bancroft’s recent memory, it was clear the town’s character triumphed over the devastation.
Doors opened, hands joined and hugs were exchanged in promises that everyone would face this together. Meals were shared and goods donated to families who lost everything, transforming stories of loss into promises of hope.
“When something like this happens, it brings everyone together,” Mabey said.
Nikki Welker said she’s proud of her son doing his part to save their town.
“One minute you’re rocking your baby to sleep and the next they are men risking their lives to save everyone around them,” she said. “It’s a bittersweet moment to watch.”
In Bancroft, the weekend’s fires revealed what really burns brightest in the hearts of its residents — the unbreakable spirit of community, neighbors helping neighbors, and a selflessness that no flame can extinguish.