A Scoop of Disaster

Lia Hendrix
Staff Writer
  On Thursday, January 18th, at 2:45 in the afternoon, disaster struck when Reed's Dairy, a popular ice cream shop in the community, was engulfed in flames. The business is located at 2660 West Broadway in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Alan Reed, the owner, stated nothing was out of the ordinary. He was running errands when his son called and informed him that the building was on fire. Reed expressed his concern that the building would eventually catch fire, and he had worried about it earlier. He rushed to the building and saw a “great amount of smoke, and it just really made [him] sick.” Reed’s first concern was making sure everyone evacuated the building safely. Luckily, everyone had made it out safely before he arrived.
   Long before the current location, the original milk barn structure was built in 1937, by Reed’s great-grandfather. In about 1975, a new milk barn was built. Later in the 1980s, Reed’s family built onto the old, existing building, adding a new processing factory. After this, the old milk barn was used for storage, this was the building that caught fire first. Reed commented that when the new building is constructed, it will have all the necessary precautions to ensure something similar never happens again.
  Reed stated that he and his family are scrambling to keep customers happy. Currently, they are still looking for people to help them bottle their milk and other products. They are worried for the well-being of their employees. Reed explained how he wants to keep as many employees working as possible, so they can still support their families. Reed described how many other businesses have volunteered to help their family and how helpful their support has been. He reported that it is humbling; however, he is still appreciative. “It's been amazing; the amount of people that have reached out, wanting to help out in some way or another, it's been, like I said, humbling.'' Reed explained that they have received support from other dairies. Ballard Cheese offered to make cheese for them; furthermore, Gosner’s brought them cheese curds. Other dairies offered to bottle the milk and help make ice cream. ''To me the fire is one story, the bigger story is the generosity, and love and support of everyone… To me, that is the best story around here” (Reed).
  Reed’s Dairy has not reopened yet; however, the owner thinks that all reconstruction and renovations will be finished in a year. Reed and his family are thankful for all the support and kindness they were shown during this challenging time. The family found the fire to be significant; however, they found the love shown by the community to be the more important thing to focus on.