Quick response keeps fire damage minimal

As the last of the crowd was headed out the gate of the Sanders County Fair on Aug. 31, local fire crews were rushing in to the 4-H pavilion where a fire had broken out.

A call to the county dispatch center was made by Stacey Nelson at about 10:40 p.m. that Thursday evening. Nelson’s quick thinking before help could arrive is what authorities said was the difference between a lost building and a small clean up.

It was later determined that the cause of the fire was due to an old water heater. The heater having been set on the kitchen side of the building had fallen through rotten floor boards.

Fair Manager Chris McGuigan said that the building had been sealed after emergency services cleared it. The food stored in the kitchen was also sealed within the structure and will be removed by a team as soon as they arrive.

Due to the nature of what happened the food that was within the kitchen could not be given out or sold for health reasons.

McGuigan also stated that he had spoken with the insurance company concerning the incident and was awaiting the adjuster to visit the site sometime within the next week to conduct appraisals required.

“I was in the kitchen prepping meals when I noticed what was happening. I couldn’t immediately find a source, so I went outside, and that’s when I realized that the source of the smoke was coming from in the kitchen,” said Nelson.

“I then raced back in, turned off the water heater, shut all the windows and fans and called 911,” she explained.

With Search and Rescue still on the grounds at the time of the incident, one of their members rushed to the pavilion to begin controlling the situation until firefighters were able to get to the scene.

Once firefighters were on site, with the aid of search and rescue they were able to locate the source of the fire and take control to put it out before it was able to ignite anything else.

As reported on the Clark Fork Valley Press and Mineral Independent Facebook page, no one was injured during the incident.

McGuigan also stated at the time that he was relieved no one was hurt and that emergency services first responders did a great job.