UPDATED: Flathead Jackpot Casino catches fire

Bigfork firefighters were kept busy by two separate fires last week, including one that damaged a local business.

Flathead Jackpot Casino on Montana Highway 35 caught fire Friday night.

The Bigfork Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at the casino at roughly 8 p.m., Chief Wayne Loeffler said. Dark smoke was streaming from vents on the roof of the casino, located near Harvest Foods.

The casino was open at the time of the fire which was quickly reported. Everyone was evacuated from the building without harm.

“We’re really fortunate people were there at the time,” Loeffler said. “Had it been later in the evening, it would have been different.”

The fire was generally contained in the building’s attic and bathrooms. Insulation and ceiling materials were removed in the bathrooms, several roof tresses were burnt out and firefighters had to cut into the roof to provide ventilation. Loeffler believes a water line may have broke in the ceiling which also helped slow the fire. The rest of the building likely has light smoke damage, Loeffler said.The fire is still under investigation, but Loeffler suspected it started in the bathroom fan.

Volunteers from the Creston and Ferndale fire departments also assisted at the scene.

ECHO LAKE BURN

An open burn on the northeast end of Echo Lake got out of control Thursday, and burned nearly three acres of private property.

A local property owner was conducting a permitted controlled burn of light shrubbery left over from the windstorms earlier this month when a spark set off in the grass and also jumped into timber, Loeffler said.

“We need to remind people that even though you’ve got green coming up, it’s still dry underneath,” Loeffler said. “It was pretty evident that if this had happened come July or August, it wouldn’t have been good.”

Firefighters and engines from Bigfork, Ferndale, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the U.S. Forest Service all responded. The burned property belonged to four separate landowners, Loeffler said.