North Fork man's foot burned in outbuilding fire

A North Fork man suffered burns to his foot after a fire destroyed an outbuilding at his home about 11 miles south of the Canada border on Thursday, April 16.

The incident started when Doug Barnes was burning some material outside his home and had gone inside. The small fire spread to the outbuilding and completely engulfed the structure by the time neighbors smelled smoke and alerted him to the fire about 1:30 p.m.

Barnes suffered burns to a foot as he tried to put out the fire out before it spread to his nearby home. He apparently wasn’t wearing shoes.

Meanwhile his neighbor, who declined to be identified, called the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department and started fighting a fire in a nearby field as it threatened another neighbor’s home and property.

Both Blankenship and Columbia Falls firefighters responded to the scene and were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to Barnes’ home and the other homes. The outbuilding was a complete loss, along with about 10 cords of firewood. Blankenship is the closest department but still about an hour’s drive away.

The ALERT helicopter landed to transport Barnes to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for treatment, but Barnes declined and said he would drive himself to the hospital. Flight nurses did dress his wounds.

A Border Patrol officer was on the scene to help, and Glacier National Park and Forest Service personnel responded to help with mop-up work.