Blaze chars downtown thrift store

A blaze of suspicious origin is being investigated as arson after the donation drop box in the alley behind the Stumptown Thrift Store caught on fire Sunday night.

The blaze spread from the box to a wooden canopy, up the outside wall and into the roof of the apartments above the store. No one was injured in the fire.

Fire crews from Whitefish, Kalispell and Evergreen responded to the scene at about 10 p.m. and had the blaze under control within 40 minutes. More than 25 firefighters were on the scene. Kalispell’s ladder truck was used to access the blaze from the roof.

Whitefish crews had responded to a fire in a garbage can at the Riverside Park tennis courts just before they were called to the thrift store blaze.

Plumes of smoke could be seen from across town, and a block of Baker Avenue between Second and Third Streets was shut down to traffic. Flathead Electric Cooperative was called in to disconnect power to the building before the scene was cleared.

The apartments above the thrift store received moderate damage, according to Whitefish fire chief Tom Kennelly, mostly consisting of smoke and water damage. Part of the ceiling was cut out to access the fire.

The storage room of the thrift store suffered “extensive” damage while the main display area only received smoke damage.

The vacant Art and Innovation building adjacent to the thrift store and the Nelson’s Ace Hardware storage shed in the alley also had some smoke damage.