Grass fire destroys garage
Mark Sonju, left, Evergreen volunteer firefighter, and Craig Williams, Evergreen assistant fire chief, work to put out a fire Thursday afternoon in a garage on Whalebone Drive west of Kalispell. The blaze started when property owner Larry McAtee was trying to light his barbecue grill, and it quickly became a grass fire that eventually destroyed McAtee’s garage. Jennifer DeMonte photos/Daily Inter Lake
Blaze west of Kalispell sparked by malfunctioning grill
Firefighters saved a house on Whalebone Drive but were unable to do the same for an unattached two-car garage at Larry McAtee's home Thursday afternoon.
Doug Scarff, assistant chief for Smith Valley Fire Department, said the call for help came in at about 3:15 p.m. Within three minutes, he said, somebody was on the scene. Five minutes after the call, an engine was there.
Scarff said McAtee was preparing to use a barbecue grill for the evening when something on the grill malfunctioned and caught some tall grass on fire.
Flames quickly traveled the six or seven feet to a small gas can that was next to firewood stacked against the garage wall. Scarff said the gas can contained a small amount of fuel.
The firewood, then the side wall of the garage, caught fire, Scarff said, and the flames moved inside. It was an older structure, he said, so the fire moved quickly.
Scarff said McAtee had been doing his best to swat out the fire, but it quickly got beyond his control.
Firefighters also knocked down another grass fire on the other side of the house, keeping the blaze from doing further damage.
Nobody was injured in the fire. Scarff said the garage was a total loss, and estimated that 90 percent of its contents were lost. He said McAtee has insurance.
Smith Valley firefighters were joined by crews from West Valley, South Kalispell and Evergreen fire departments. Marion Ambulance also went to the scene.
Scarff said fire officials recommend that firewood and similar materials be stacked away from garages, homes and other structures that could be destroyed in such a fire.