Three-Mile Fireworks, the family-owned firework stand located at the 3-Mile intersection north of Bonners Ferry, was burglarized the night of Dec. 26. According to owners Mark and Kristen Mierke’s calculations, there was approximately $2,000 worth of fireworks stolen. The crime occurred sometime between when 6 p.m. on Dec. 26 and 7 a.m on Dec. 27.

The burglars used sheer force, and likely a sledgehammer, crowbar or maul (or possibly all of the above) in order to break in through the side door of the small stand.

“They knew what they were doing,” Kristen says. “They came in and they took all the big stuff, all the expensive stuff.”

The timing of the crime also implies that it was planned out to a certain extent. Idaho state law only allows for fireworks to be sold during two specific and rigidly set windows of time: from midnight on June 23 through midnight on July 5, and from midnight on Dec. 26 through midnight on Jan. 1. Whoever the criminals were, they knew that the business would have all of its product on the shelves and ready for when sales were allowed to commence on the morning of Dec. 27. They also knew, or at least thought they knew, that nobody would be watching. Mark and Kristen say that while they usually stay in their trailer behind the stand during the Fourth of July timeframe, it’s generally too cold to sleep in the trailer during the bitter weather of late December.

So while a winter storm blew in after Christmas and dumped snow all over the county, and while the Mierke’s were at home warm in bed, the burglars struck.

According to the couple, Mark’s father showed up to the stand early on the morning of Dec. 27 to shovel snow and prepare for the business to open, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. As he was shovelling, however, he started seeing fireworks strewn about underneath the snow. He soon noticed the broken down door and the empty shelves, and the Mierke family contacted the police soon after.

At this time, the burglary is under investigation by the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office. The office has not yet released any information regarding the crime.

Unfortunately for the Mierke’s, who have run the fireworks stand for the past five years without incident, there is not much they can do about the situation except wait and hope that new evidence comes forward. Their insurance does not cover theft, and while they still have a decent amount of product left to sell over the next few days, Kristen says the best case scenario for them would be to break even this go-round.

“[Mark] gets laid off in the winters,” Kristen explains. “So this is what we do to support our three kids.”

Mark remains optimistic, however, saying, “We got lucky they didn’t get everything. It could have been worse.” He says that they have an additional trailer where they keep a lot of their product, and that he almost left it next to the stand on the night the burglary occurred, but decided to bring it home at the last minute.

Mark and Kristen have repaired and fortified the door that was broken down, and they will continue to operate the firework stand through the New Year’s holiday. Anyone with information regarding the crime at 3-Mile Fireworks should contact authorities immediately.