Restoration work under way after Eureka fire

A county building is showing new signs of life after a fire in Eureka two weeks ago.

The North Lincoln County Annex has been vacant since someone broke into the building and started a fire in a judge’s office there late in the evening Oct. 24.

Justice of the Peace Stormy Langston’s office was gutted, and smoke and fumes damaged the rest of the building.

The damage has been estimated at well over $200,000, according to County Commissioner Marianne Roose, who has an office in the annex building. Roose met with an insurance claims adjuster last week.

“The exact number we don’t know yet,” Roose said of the price tag on the damage.

Local company Complete Restoration is heading up the repairs, she said. Workers have ripped carpet out of every office. Every room will have to be repainted as well, because smoke from the fire got into the heating ducts and spread throughout the building.

Painters have finished three offices, Roose said Monday.

Once the painting is finished, carpets replaced and furniture moved back into place, displaced workers will start moving back into the building — probably one office at a time, starting with the business office, she said.

Employees possibly could start moving back into the building the week after next, Roose said.

Workers already have cleaned the duct system and electricians are working on the heating and air conditioning systems, she said. Complete Restoration will hire a local contractor to rebuild the judge’s office, where most of the damage occurred, she added.

The fire and burglary are still under investigation, said Lt. Steve Short with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Evidence has been sent to the state crime lab in Missoula, and the Sheriff’s Office is still conducting interviews.

“We’re not at the point of making arrests,” Short said. “There are no names we can give out, but there are about four or five individuals we’ve spoken with so far.”

Some of them will be reinterviewed, Short added, and some have given investigators more names to consider.

Whoever was behind the break-in and fire in the annex likely was responsible for the four other business burglaries on the night of the fire, Short said.

“We believe they were, simply because we don’t get a whole lot of commercial burglaries in our area — maybe one or two a year,” he said.

A building in the Eureka city limits was burglarized a few weeks before the fire and may be related to the break-ins that happened on Oct. 24, Short added.

“Similar methods were used to enter the buildings,” he said. “There are consistent tool marks, consistent methods of entry.”

The state crime lab is analyzing evidence and fingerprints, Short said. Local detectives worked with a deputy state fire marshal to investigate the fire in the annex building, which definitely was arson, he said.

A Eureka police officer noticed smoke coming from the annex building a little after midnight Oct. 25.

Because it was concentrated in her office, Langston suspects the fire was a message for her. She told the Inter Lake that she had a few possible suspects and that she was presiding over at least one contentious case that could have provoked someone to commit arson.

Langston declined to say more because of the ongoing investigation.

Immediately after the fire, she held court in Eureka City Court, where she works part time as a city judge. She is also a part-time county justice of the peace. Langston since has relocated to an office rented from Big Sky Exxon, Roose said.

Others who work in the annex also have found temporary lodging, she said. The county health nurse is working out of Eureka Junior High School, and the county extension and fair offices are operating out of an office in Lincoln County High School.

“The [Department of] Motor Vehicle girls are driving to Libby and working down there in the motor vehicle office,” Roose said. The arrangement has worked out well, she said; this is a busy time of year for the Libby office and they appreciate the extra workers.

Roose has been working out of her home and driving to Libby.

“Everybody’s still working. We’re moving forward, doing our jobs,” she said. “We’re making the best we can of our difficult situation.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com