Kalispell hotel fire damage estimated at $4 million
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday evening, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
West Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday evening, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Firefighters battle a blaze at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Firefighters battle a blaze at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
A firefighter on an aerial ladder mans a hose as streams of water from other units attack a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighter Ben Graham checks a hose during a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
A three-story hotel on Kalispell’s west side suffered extensive damage in a structure fire Wednesday afternoon that drew one of the largest firefighter responses in the valley in more than a decade.
A plumber working at the Quality Inn on U.S. 2 West in Kalispell is suspected to have started the fire, Kalispell Fire Chief Dan Pearce said. The blaze started in the wall and quickly spread to the hotel’s attic.
Kalispell firefighters were dispatched at 12:46 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find smoke billowing from the roof. Hotel workers and police were able to evacuate all occupants without incident.
Pearce said firefighters initially attacked the blaze from within the building, but they had to retreat as the fire spread due to gusting winds.
“The wind was really driving it from the east to west,” Pearce said. “It just burned the entire top of the hotel off.”
Firefighters on the ground doused the inferno with hoses as aerial ladder trucks hit the rooftop. The fire destroyed about 65 units, but the hotel’s lobby, casino and restaurant were saved.
Pearce estimated the total damage at approximately $4 million.
A total of 33 firefighters were on the scene at one point, with crews and apparatus arriving from Kalispell, Evergreen, West Valley, South Kalispell, Smith Valley and Whitefish.
Pearce said that due to thick smoke, firefighters’ breathing devices had to be refilled numerous times using South Kalispell’s air unit.
“It was so smoky, but we were able to keep all the breathing packs refilled,” he said.
The smoke also caused severe visibility issues along the highway that snarled traffic for hours. Electricity was cut off to about 2,000 Flathead Electric Cooperative customers at one point while crews engaged the blaze.
Once the fire was contained, a hazmat drone was used to detect hot spots that were then doused with water. All burned areas were coated with foam before crews cleared the scene at noon on Thursday.
Pearce estimated it was among the largest structure fires in the valley in the last 10 years. He praised all of the departments for working in unison during the rapidly evolving situation.
“We were able to work on the same sheet of music,” he said. “Communication is key.”
“In a wind-driven fire, it doesn’t matter how many helicopters are in the air or firefighters are on the scene, Mother Nature is in control — but this fire didn’t overpower us,” he added, noting that a good portion of the hotel was unaffected.
West Valley Fire & Rescue firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday evening, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Firefighters battle a blaze at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighters battle a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Firefighters battle a blaze at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
A firefighter on an aerial ladder mans a hose as streams of water from other units attack a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Kalispell Fire Department firefighter Ben Graham checks a hose during a fire at the Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider