Martin City teen flees raging fire

A Martin City teen narrowly escaped a fire that destroyed the family home Tuesday morning.

Jacob Hagen, 15, was in bed around 11 a.m. when he heard a popping sound. He woke up to find his bed was on fire. He raced out of the house and through a porch fully engulfed in flames, escaping with just minor injuries.

Hagen then called 911 and his father, Darin, to tell him the house on Coram Work Station Road was on fire.

The fire apparently started in the garage, set a nearby tree on fire and then spread to the house, according to Jill Hagen, Jacob’s mother.

Fire crews from five departments battled the fire for hours. Martin City Fire Chief Tom Torpen said that flames spread a couple hundred yards into the grass but were contained before becoming a forest fire.

The house, however, was totaled.

Firefighters remained on scene through 5 p.m. Torpen said he was looking at the remains of a car in the garage and couldn’t tell what kind it was.

“Not much left of it,” he said.

The Hagens have lived on the property for 23 years. They have homeowners’ insurance, Jill Hagen said.

Firefighters from the Hungry Horse-Martin City and Coram-West Glacier fire departments and the U.S. Forest Service responded to the fire at roughly 11 a.m. Blankenship and Badrock Fire Departments also assisted.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Daily Inter Lake reporter Matt Hudson contributed to this story.