Ramsey Avenue house razed by fire

A house already in the process of being demolished on Ramsey Avenue was completely destroyed by a fire on Thursday.

Whitefish Fire Chief Joe Page said the electrical fire grew quickly because of dry wood in the older home.

“They thought the power was off,” Page said. “But it sparked a fire. They had removed all the Sheetrock and that left all the 100-year-old wood exposed.”

Dave Fischlowitz was tearing down the house while working to salvage the timber.

“There was a miscommunication,” he said. “I was told the power was off. I’ve done this many times before and I’ve never had a problem.”

The call to the fire department came in at 11:10 a.m., and crews responded quickly, but when they arrived the house was fully engulfed.

Page said firefighters had to wait until Flathead Electric Co-op could respond to turn off the electricity before putting water on the fire.

Firefighters remained on site more than two hours after the initial call continuing to douse hot spots.

There were no injuries and no one was living in the house, Page said. A neighbor’s fence did suffer damage, and the fire threatened to spread to the property to the south.

“We’re just lucky it wasn’t August, and dry, because it started to catch the hill behind it,” Page said. “It was pretty close to the houses next door.”

Neighbors, who described the house as dilapidated, said the fire started out at about three-feet in size, but then grew rapidly as they tried to use a garden hose to put it out while calling 911. At one point witnesses watched as flames shot above the two-story structure and caused the roof to collapse.

A homeowner on the hillside to the south continued to spray water on their lawn even after firefighters were on site.

Evergreen and West Valley fire departments, along with Big Mountain Ambulance, also responded.