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Steam rises up from the remains of a home on North Pinnacle Road that was destroyed by fire Tuesday night. (Heidi Desch / Whitefish Pilot)
This sculpture was part of the very few items that remained intact at a North Pinnacle Road home that was destroyed by fire Tuesday night. (Heidi Desch / Whitefish Pilot)
Pieces of twisted metal and what appeared to be siding was virtually all that remained Wednesday afternoon as steam rose up from the foundation of a North Pinnacle Road house destroyed by fire Tuesday night.
West Valley Fire Chief Russ Sappington said the fire appears to have started in the chimney of the wood stove of the house, which is located south of Whitefish off Whitefish Stage Road. He said the fire quickly spread throughout the house including into the crawl space and eaves of the roof.
“It's a total loss,” Sappington said. “The fire progressed rapidly.”
Jerri Swenson, a licensed counselor with an office in Whitefish, owns the house. She called 911 before escaping the fire.
Susan Seaman, neighbor and friend to Swenson, told the Pilot that Swenson heard a noise coming from her wood stove Tuesday evening.
“She got her dog and cat out,” she said. “She lost everything. Within an hour the house was fully engulfed.”
Seaman said her friend got in her car and pulled down to the end of the street where she watched for the next four hours as her home burned.
The initial call to dispatch came in about 8 p.m. and crews remained on scene until 1 a.m., according to Sappington. Firefighting efforts were complicated by the below-freezing temperatures.
Sappington said water tenders were freezing during the fire and those same tenders had to be backed one at a time down the narrow road covered in packed snow and ice.
A crew from West Valley Fire Department was on scene Wednesday afternoon dousing the remains of the home with water.
Crews from Whitefish, South Kalispell, Evergreen, Columbia Falls, Smith Valley and Kalispell assisted West Valley.
Seaman has started a GoFundMe page to help Swenson, at https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-jerri-swenson