STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The fire that destroyed the Croy Street Exchange in Hailey two weeks ago is being investigated as arson, according to State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl.
Sandahl told KTVB that the state and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are interviewing “persons of interest.” Investigators are following leads and taking a look at surveillance video from the people who work and live nearby.
Hailey Fire Chief Mike Baledge told Eye on Sun Valley that the building was fully engulfed in flames shooting 40 feet into the dark sky when he arrived on the scene two minutes after the fire was reported at 5:10 the morning of March 16.
It spread quickly, he said, because the building had been stripped down to the framing with no insulation or drywall remaining. Michelle Stennett, who owns the building with Building Contractor Paul Conrad, told The Eye that pictures taken to show the city the progress on the building showed there was nothing in the building—not even leftover oily rags--that might have sparked a fire.
Workers were to have started turning the building into a space for 17 affordable housing units the day following the fire, said Stennett.