Firefighters have busy start to new year

Columbia Falls firefighters had a busy start to the new year as they responded to three structure fire calls on Friday, Jan. 3.

The first was a house fire on Braig Road at 8:44 a.m. 

Columbia Falls fire chief Karl Weeks said the house hadn’t been occupied for a few years, but it had power to it. A heat tape was suspected in the cause of the blaze. The structure was still standing, but appeared to have smoke and water damage.

Whitefish, Bad Rock and Evergreen all responded with mutual aid.

Firefighters were on the scene by 9:53 a.m. and cleared at 11:52 a.m. They didn’t have much time after that, as two more calls came in, one at 12:21 p.m. and another eight minutes later for mutual aid to other departments.

One was a upstairs bedroom fire in Whitefish and the other a shop fire on the Bad Rock District.

Fortunately the department has enough volunteers so they could respond to both of them, Weeks noted.

No one was injured in any of the blazes, but the owner of the shop was treated for smoke inhalation as he tried to get the fire out himself.

Weeks noted that Columbia Falls had a record number of calls in 2024, with 426. December, however, was relatively quiet with 22, he said.