Hungry Horse woman killed in trailer house fire

A Hungry Horse woman died in a house fire Aug. 8.

Numerous friends later identified her as Lori Kaml.

Incident commander Kirk Katzenmeyer, chief of the Bad Rock Fire Department, said the blaze on First Avenue broke out shortly after 8 p.m. Firefighters from Martin City, Bad Rock, Hungry Horse and Coram-West Glacier all responded to the blaze.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said her body had been taken to the state crime lab for positive identification.

Kaml, 60, was well known in the Canyon community, having volunteered for Cabin Fever Days for decades.

She will be sorely missed, said friend Greg Vorhees.

“She was always there in the middle of (Cabin Fever Days),” he said. “She was an instrumental player.”

Kaml had a cleaning business and also worked at Cimarron Deli in Columbia Falls, friends said.

Kaml had come home from a day on the Hungry Horse Reservoir and was apparently taking a nap, neighbors said.

Flames initially were shooting 40 feet into the air.

“It was a very hot fire,” Katzenmeyer said.

Kaml’s body was found near the back door, an indication that she may have been trying to escape. Firefighters are still investigating the exact cause of the fire, though Katzenmeyer said it appears to have started in the kitchen.

The fire burned so hot it melted the siding on the neighbor’s house.

“We almost didn’t have enough manpower,” Katzenmeyer said.

Having said that, the four companies worked well together to battle the blaze and keep it from spreading to nearby trees and adjacent homes. The fire could have been much worse with the current extreme fire conditions gripping the valley.