Fire destroys Hot Springs business

The Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department is still investigating one of two fires that happened recently on the outskirts of town.

The cause of the fire that destroyed the Hot Springs Lumber and Feed store Jan. 6 is still undetermined, said Chief Randy Woods, the lead investigator in the case.

The blaze broke out about 4 a.m. on that Sunday. A man in Hot Springs called in that it looked as though there was a fire just north of town. Hot Springs reserve officer Jim Matthews verified it. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene about two and a half miles north of Hot Springs on Highway 28 within 15 minutes after the call, most of the building was engulfed in flames.

More than a dozen firefighters with their two engines immediately put two hoses on the building, but Woods said the warehouse part of the building, which had stacks of lumber and feed inside, had already collapsed. The chief said his firefighters entered the business office in an effort to save the store records, but he said many of the papers were already charred and the heat forced the men to retreat from inside the building.

The relatively new building was owned by Steve Cavallini of Hot Springs.

The warehouse burned "really, really hot," according to Woods, who was cut when a sheet of glass fell. He was taken to Clark Fork Valley Hospital, where he received several stitches. "The flames just sucked up the water," he said.

Some of Woods' firefighters remained at the scene until about 10 a.m., but he said the building was a total loss.

Just over 24 hours earlier, the Hot Springs firefighters responded to a call to a smoldering home on Highway 382 on Camas Prairie. Michelle Woods, who lives in the house with Justis Massey and two children, woke up about 3 a.m. to the smell of smoke and a light smoky haze and called 911.

It took about 15 minutes for the department's fire engine to get to the one-story home about four miles from the intersection of Highways 382 and 28.

The chief said that Michelle Woods, a cousin to Randy, noticed smoke coming from a crack in the wall near the fireplace in the livingroom. It was still a light smoke when the fire department arrived, but by then the fire alarms had activated. He said they used the department's thermal imaging camera to find the source of the smoke, which led to the ceiling in the attic, and occurred because a piece of mortar from the chimney had fallen out.

The fire crew cut a hole in the ceiling and shot water into the attic. Randy Woods said the freshly cut hole allowed oxygen to get to the area, causing flames to emerge. Woods guessed that the fire had been smoldering in the attic for about an hour. He believes that had the fire gone another 15 to 20 minutes, the roof would have collapsed, which would have meant more oxygen rushing in, causing the fire, which was immediately above the children's bedroom, to quickly spread. "That fire was burning right above their beds," said the fire chief.

"A few more minutes and they would have lost everything," said Woods. "They were very lucky." He said they had a little furniture damage and will have to replace the roof and part of the upper structure.

It took the fire crew about 20 minutes to douse the fire, but they remained on scene for a couple of hours.

Woods said they were lucky they had enough water in the engine because the water tender didn't arrive at the scene for about 40 minutes. Because of freezing rain and slick roads, the tender, based in Lonepine, couldn't go any more than about 35 mph. "We were really lucky we caught it with the water on the engine," said Woods.