The Smith Valley Fire Department is still cleaning up and assessing the total damage after an arsonist struck its Foy’s Lake fire hall last weekend, but Fire Chief D.C. Haas estimates the total loss is “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.
“When you talk about firefighting and rescue equipment and gear, it is expensive,” Haas said Tuesday.
On Sunday morning, he responded to a call that the fire hall’s door had been kicked in and someone had set a rescue truck on fire. Firefighters arrived to find massive damage throughout the building: The truck was a total loss, a nearby fire engine was seriously damaged and other emergency response gear was destroyed.
With one of the department’s two fire halls rendered unusable on the Fourth of July — the highest-volume day of the year for fire dispatches — he said his firefighters’ capabilities were “immensely” impacted.
“We were busy all day with fireworks and medical calls,” he said. “Normally we’d have a crew left at the Foy’s Lake hall to cover calls on the west side, so we just really didn’t have coverage of the district is what it comes down to.”
Compounding the difficulty is the department’s planned roll-out of ambulance services in a month. The private ambulance business that currently provides response in Smith Valley will discontinue its coverage Aug. 8.
“We’re ready to go, but this just adds to the workload for getting the ambulance service,” he said.
The cost of replacing the fire-damaged equipment is certain to be staggering once his department finishes tallying up the losses, but Haas said the outpouring of support from the community has been encouraging.
Many local residents have asked about donating to the department through a GoFundMe page, which he hopes to set up in the coming days.
“We will overcome and rebuild and be back in business, but it’s getting through July and August that’s going to be the most challenging,” Haas said.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said detectives are still looking into the cause, but the time frame of the arson is making the investigation more difficult. No one had been to the fire hall for at least two days before the fire’s aftermath was discovered, he said.
“We have some things to go on, but not a lot. The fire was out when they got there,” Curry said. “Our detectives have some information, but if anyone has anything, we would hope they would call us.”
He added that Flathead Crimestoppers is offering a reward of $1,000 to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the arson.
Anyone with information can notify Crimestoppers at (406) 752-TIPS or by email at [email protected].
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at [email protected].
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