EMMETT, Idaho (KIVI) — The Emmett community came together Tuesday night for a charity concert to raise money for firefighters and victims of the Paddock Fire. Local bands performed for hours at the Emmett City Park Bandshell, collecting donations from the community.
Nick Davis and the Timber Butte Boys headlined the benefit concert. All funds raised will be distributed to victims of the Paddock Fire and firefighters in need of supplies. Other local businesses, including Emmett’s Your Name On This, also sold merchandise at the event, with the majority of the proceeds going to firefighters and those in need.
“So I wanted to do something. It’s definitely a passion project for me, bringing people together and helping the community,” said Michelle Tas, who lives in Emmett.
She thought the best way to help the local community was to hold a charity concert.
“So Nick Davis and the Timber Butte Boys agreed to do a Paddock Fire benefit concert to raise money for the firefighters and those affected by the fire. Some ranchers lost livestock, fences and pasture. We want to help raise money to give back to the community that helped the firefighters here,” Tas said.
“I think it’s our job as a nation to give back to the people who’ve given to us,” says Nick Davis, headliner of Tuesday night’s concert.
He told me he’d seen the effects of the Paddock Fire firsthand.
“My grandfather’s house caught fire and I went out and helped put it out. I’d helped move the cows away from the fire the night before. Then my brother’s house caught fire and his house was pretty much burned down so I helped put it out,” Davis said.
He told me that while he was able to help protect his family’s fortunes, others in the community were not so fortunate.
“My best friends lost their homes in the fire, my best friends lost their barns, their cows burned in the fire, it’s really impacted us,” Davis said. “Like I said, all we can do is be there to help everybody, everybody helps each other and that’s how this little community works.”
“This incident brings us all together and shows us that no matter what happens, together we are strong and can overcome any challenge. In a community like this, in a small town, everyone knows everyone, so we need to help each other,” Tas added.
