Massive fire destroys shop, heavy equipment

A structure fire destroyed a large shop and several large pieces of heavy equipment Monday night south of Olney.

According to Whitefish Fire Department Assistant Chief Travis Tveidt, the shop was a complete loss as well as various heavy equipment machines, including skid steers, bulldozers and personal vehicles.

The call came in at about 10:30 p.m. and firefighters from Whitefish, West Valley, Olney, Big Mountain, Columbia Falls and Evergreen battled the intense blaze until about 3 a.m. The shop was located on Martin Camp Road, just east of Lower Stillwater Lake.

Tveidt didn’t know if the property was insured and a cause of the fire wasn’t yet known.