Despite fire, Polebridge Merc remains open

While the Hay Creek Fire grumbles to the northwest, Polebridge Mercantile owner Will Hammerquist reminds folks that the store and its bakery are still open for business until an evacuation order is issued.

“We’ll be open until the evacuation order and then we’ll reopen when it’s safe to do so,” he said.

This summer business was robust at the Mercantile before the fire. It’s still busy, but not as busy as it had been. Glacier National Park closed the backcountry campsites and the evacuation warning that came with the Hay Creek Fire was just that — a warning.

But big fires have a way of turning back crowds.

“People-wise it’s slower,” said Mackenzie Spaulding, who works the counter at the store. “A lot of people think we’re closed.”

The wildfire illustrates just how dependent a local business can be on tourism and the weather. Climate change has resulted in bone dry summers and the threat of wildfires is now a yearly occurrence in Northwest Montana.

To wit: The years 2015, 2017, 2018 and now this year all saw major wildfires either in or near Glacier National Park. Last summer there were no large fires close to the region, but there were days on end with smoke from wildfires to the west. The summer of 2019 was the last one with appreciable and timely rains in the summer months,

“The trend is clear,” Hammerquist said. “That’s all you have to say.”

Being off the grid, he’s spending more of solar power, he said. This year he plans on installing 54 more solar panels.

This fire is a new experience for some employees.

Spaulding hails from Kansas City and had never seen a forest fire up until a few weeks ago.

The Merc at one point had 35 employees this summer, Hammerquist said. Some have gone home a few weeks early for college due to the fire.

Baker Miriam Martinez is from San Diego, California. She said baking at the Merc has been a great experience, because they do everything form scratch — many commercial bakeries, she noted, use pre-mixed ingredients. The Merc even hand-rolls its dough. She gets up at 4:30 a.m. every morning and is in bed by 10 p.m. on her work days. A nap some time during the day helps.

When the summer season ends she’ll go back to Grossmont College in California to its culinary program. The fire has had one silver lining — the Merc will return to selling its baked goods at the Whitefish Community Market on Tuesdays. It had become so busy they weren’t able sell at the market earlier this year.

In addition, the county has treated the lower end of the North Fork Road for dust, so it’s not nearly as rough as it was earlier this year.

Martinez and Spaulding said they appreciate the efforts of the firefighters and it’s good to visit with them when they stop by the store.

“It’s nice to see them come in and grab and pastry,” Spaulding said.