Burning candle leads to bedroom fire home

No injuries were reported in a fire that consumed a bedroom in a house on Whitefish Stage Road north of Kalispell on Tuesday night.

According to West Valley Fire Chief Rod Dresbach, a burning candle in a girl’s bedroom ignited a nearby curtain, and “everything in the room basically burned up.”

The first firefighters on scene entered through the window of the home at 2231 Whitefish Stage Road and were able to knock down the fire using fog in about 20 minutes.

The fire did not spread beyond the room, Dresbach said.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about the fire at 8:24 p.m. Crews from West Valley Fire Department, Evergreen Fire Rescue, South Kalispell Fire Department and Smith Valley Fire Department responded with a total of four engines, four water tenders, two rescue vehicles and 35 firefighters.

The family of seven was home at the time, Dresbach said.

“The father tried to throw the mattress out the window,” Dresbach said. “It burned him a little bit but not enough to go to the hospital.”

Family members were able to remain in the house “as far as I know,” Dresbach said.