Home totaled in Coram fire, family needs assistance

A family in Coram lost their home and most of their belongings in a house fire Jan. 11.

When firefighters responded to the fire on Coram School Lane at 7:37 a.m., the fire had already gone through the roof of the single-story structure, Coram-West Glacier fire chief Walt Tabb said. The residents called in the fire when they smelled wood smoke but didn't have a wood-burning stove.

Stephanie Johnson and Joshua Armstrong and their two children escaped from the fire unharmed, along with a cat and two dogs, but a second cat died.

"The living room is gutted, the bathroom is gutted, and we have to climb into the bedroom through the window," Johnson said.

She said she had some old family photos and other mementos in a plastic tub in a bedroom closet and hopes those items weren't damaged. The family's Christmas presents were destroyed in the fire, she added.

The home, a trailer house that had been modified with outside wooden walls and multiple roofs and additions, was still standing after the fire was controlled, but it was a total loss, Tabb said.

"The fire started with an overheated gas furnace and moved up the wall to the attic," he said.

Six pieces of equipment and 18 firefighters responded from the Coram-West Glacier, Hungry Horse and Martin City fire departments. It took firefighters about two hours to bring the fire under control because of the internal metal walls of the trailer house.

"It was a real bearcat to fight," Tabb said.

Both Johnson, who's lived in the Flathead for about 12 years, and Armstrong, who is a Flathead native, are working. The family found temporary housing at the Tamarack Lodge, in Coram, and Flathead Industries has helped with clothing, Johnson said, but the family needs a new place to live, clothing, shoes, household items, and dog and cat food.

An account for donations has been set up at Park Side Federal Credit Union under the name Josh Armstrong.