Fires gut homes in Flathead

Two house fires displaced two families Sunday.

Flames destroyed a home on Upper Lost Prairie Road outside Marion and another on East Bowman Lane in Stillwater Estates north of Kalispell.

It brought to three the number of Flathead Valley families who lost their homes to fire in as many days. Early Friday, a wood stove apparently ignited a fire in a wall space and destroyed an Evergreen home. The man and woman, along with their dog, escaped safely, but the home was gutted.

On Sunday morning, family members reportedly escaped without injury after a fire broke out in a home on Upper Lost Prairie Road.

Marion Fire Chief James Brower reported, however, that the house, attached two-car garage and all contents were destroyed in the blaze. Only a small outlying shed was saved.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office reported that flames were showing and the house was filling with smoke when the 911 call came in at 10:43 a.m. Sunday. A water heater exploded soon after and flames engulfed the garage, according to the sheriff’s log.

Brower said the homeowner reported the fire and then escaped with her adult son, who was visiting at the time. He was not authorized to release the homeowner’s name, but said she had only slippers on her feet when she left her burning house.

Twenty minutes after the dispatch call, Brower said he and his volunteer firefighters had navigated snow-covered roads and reached the remote home. It was engulfed by that time, he said, so they went into what he called a defensive mode to save the single shed adjacent to the house.

Two engines and two water tenders from the Marion Fire Department, the Marion ambulance, and an engine and water tender from Smith Valley Fire Department all worked at the scene.

Fisher River Fire Department from Lincoln County sent an engine to cover at the Marion fire hall while all available volunteers were at the house fire.

His department and Flathead County Sheriff’s fire investigators tentatively agreed that the fire started in the area of the water heater and likely was caused by an electrical problem, Brower said.

Although she was distraught at the loss, Brower said, the homeowner has several family members who live nearby and are able to help. He called on the American Red Cross for help, but he said she declined the offer. Brower said she has homeowner’s insurance.

Shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, West Valley firefighters were called to another house fire, this one on East Bowman Drive in Stillwater Estates. It reportedly was called in as a garage fire but grew to involve the home as well.

At press time, firefighters still were on the scene at the home at 210 E. Bowman Lane, owned by Thomas Shaffer. One observer reported the fire started in the area of the three-car garage with a second story overhead, but an opposite corner of the home was not as severely damaged.

West Valley later was assisted on the fire by Smith Valley and South Kalispell firefighters. Dispatchers reported that Kalispell emergency personnel were on a medical call at the time. Kalispell Fire Department has a station just to the south of Stillwater Estates, south of Costco Wholesale.

Shaffer and his wife have three children, two sons ages 13 and 10, and a daughter age 9.