Home burns while family on vacation

The Daily Inter Lake

A Somers home was destroyed by fire Wednesday morning.

Bob Kienas, chief of the Somers Fire Department, said the single-level home with an attached garage burned very quickly. No one was hurt.

The Jim Miller residence at 720 Wagner Lane was only about three years old, Kienas said. The family had left on the morning of the fire for vacation.

"Speculation is something was left on, a small appliance or something," Kienas said.

A neighbor saw the fire and reported it, but by then, the house was fully engulfed in flames.

"It was flat cooking," Kienas said.

Eighteen firefighters from Somers turned out and a water tender from South Kalispell Fire Department was used to extinguish the fire, but the home was beyond salvation.

A boat, truck and lawnmower were saved, Kienas said.

The family was contacted at an RV park in Bozeman, he said.