Flames of Paradise
Jennifer McBride/Valley Press Firefighters rush to put out the flames at the Pair-a-Dice bar in Paradise.
Only one thing stood between Paradise, firefighters and a falling, fiery roof on Friday morning: a beer cooler.
Lee Mercier, assistant fire chief for the Plains/Paradise Rural Fire District, was inside the flaming Pair-a-Dice Bar and Casino with one other firefighter when the roof of the old wooden building collapsed. Fortunately, the roof fell on top of a beer cooler, which kept it from dropping onto the two firefighters’ heads.
“It was a trip,” Mercier said. He added that he had only been in one other collapsing building.
An eyewitness later told Mercier that he saw flames shooting out of the back of the bar sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. but mistakenly thought firefighters were already on scene. The fire had already sunk its teeth into the building when Sanders County Dispatch received the first call at 7:10 a.m. While the fire started in back, air pockets and old insulation quickly spread the blaze to the front. The rural fire department arrived on scene 12 minutes after the call and the city firefighters about 15 minutes later.
Despite the steady drizzle of rain, firefighters remained on scene for the next seven hours.
Mercier said the fire was particularly difficult because of the building’s age and it’s sawdust insulation, which he said catches fire easily and burns a long time.
“It kind of interferes with firefighting,” he said.
The firefighters stayed to suppress hot spots until 2:30 p.m., when the team finally stood down and Mercier took them all out to lunch. About 17 firefighters from both the rural and city stations and five fire suppression vehicles responded. They used approximately 10 gallons of foam and 70,000 gallons of water.
The state fire marshal is currently investigating the cause of the incident and hopes to have the reason for the flames next week.
Jennifer Ellerman, assistant manager for the bar, was working the night before the the building burst into flames.
“It was a big surprise,” Ellerman said, “Everybody pretty sad about it.”
She and four other employees of the bar are now seeking other employment. Ben Boles, manager of the establishment as well as of The Mint said that so far there are no plans to rebuild the bar but that there is still some ideas rolling around. Boles said that the building had been there since about 1947.
“I feel terrible about it,” Boles said, “Five employees lost their jobs but we’re trying to relocate them. It’s very tough on them but we’ll do what we can.”