Perkins 'a total loss'

Owner expresses 'absolute shock'

Forty-nine firefighters from six departments responded to a fire early Friday morning at the Perkins Family Restaurant and Bakery on U.S. 2 in Evergreen.

The building suffered extensive fire, smoke, heat and water damage.

"I'm pretty comfortable saying it's a total loss," Evergreen Fire Chief Craig Williams said.

When firefighters arrived at 3 a.m., light smoke was coming from the building but flames were not visible, he said.

"It clearly had been burning for a while, we do know that, before we got here," said Williams, who described the blaze as a slow burn that started in the kitchen and was mostly contained in that area.

"We thought most of the building was involved, but it wasn't," he said.

Firefighters ventilated the building through the roof and then attacked the flames through two doors on the restaurant's south side.

Flames managed to eat through a portion of the south wall before they were doused.

Crews got the fire under control at about 4:30 a.m. and extinguished it just after 5 a.m.

The Evergreen Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire, Williams said. The building was unoccupied at the time and no one was injured.

Despite firefighters' prognosis, restaurant owner Craig Witte said he wasn't willing to write off his business as a total loss just yet - even though the fire destroyed several thousand dollars' worth of inventory and perishable products.

Reopening the restaurant will depend on what insurance adjusters say, Witte said. Buildings that suffer extensive fire damage often have to be razed and rebuilt from the foundation up.

"If that happens, we're probably five, six months out before it could be reopened," Witte said.

Should the building turn out to be irreparable, new building costs would run about $800,000, he noted. Furniture, fixtures, and equipment would cost another $400,000 to $500,000.

"Continuing with the Perkins franchise would be the best way to go," said Witte, noting that the franchise fee alone is $50,000.

But it's still too early to tell with certainty what will happen, he added.

Witte opened the popular dining spot with a partner from Butte in November 1995, and a brand new building was constructed to house the restaurant. Witte and his wife later bought the original partner out.

The restaurant currently has 49 people on its payroll.

A Republican state representative running for re-election this year in House District 8, Witte said he registered "shock, absolute shock and disbelief" when he arrived at his burning restaurant at about 3:30 a.m.

"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before," he said.

The restaurant's American flag, reportedly the largest in town, waved in the breeze as firefighters mopped up the fire scene on Friday. It flew at half-staff in honor of firefighting pilot Gert Marais of Fort Benton, who died in an April 15 plane crash while fighting fires in Colorado.

In addition to the Evergreen Fire Department, firefighters from the Kalispell, West Valley, Creston, South Kalispell and Columbia Falls fire departments responded to the fire.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden may be reached at 748-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com