Francisco Martinez

Francisco Martinez

FORT HALL — A Friday morning fire destroyed a Fort Hall home where a man’s body was found on Feb. 2.

According to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Fort Hall fire units responded to the B Street home at approximately 3:40 a.m. Friday to find the residence fully engulfed in flames. Fort Hall dispatch received numerous calls from area residents who reported flames and smoke billowing from the home.

Fort Hall firefighters were assisted at the scene by the Chubbuck Fire Department.

A week earlier on Feb. 2, the body of 20-year-old Fort Hall resident Francisco Martinez was found in the same residence after a fire was reported at the home. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes said authorities are awaiting results from an autopsy to determine Martinez’s cause of death.

Rydon Teton, 32, of Fort Washakie, Wyoming, was later arrested in connection to the Feb. 2 incident. According to the Sho-Ban News, he has been charged in Tribal Court with arson, abuse of a human corpse, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.

Teton is being held at the Fort Hall Justice Center without bail at the Fort Hall Justice Center, the Sho-Ban News reported.

The Feb. 9 fire is under investigation.

An online fundraiser has been launched to help pay for the funeral costs for Francisco Martinez. As of Monday, more than $800 had been raised toward the $1,500 goal.

Donations to the fundraiser can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/ciscos-funeral-costs.

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