Kids Set Fireworks Under Wooden Bleachers at MT Baseball Stadium

After a Monday night fire devastated the Columbia Falls baseball stadium, the president of the Glacier Babe Ruth League assessed the damage.

“It’s a total loss,” Ray Queen said. “This stadium was beautiful and now so much is gone. It’s all crisp, the field, the classic wooden bleachers are gone. It’s just a total loss.”

According to Columbia Falls Fire Chief Rick Hagen, the bleachers at the Sapa-Johnsrud Babe Ruth Fields caught fire around 11 p.m. on Monday.

Hagen said he believed the fire was the result of children setting off fireworks in a garbage can under the bleachers.

A Columbia Falls Police officer discovered the fire. Hagen said since the officer did not have a fire extinguisher, he called for a fire truck to put out the flames.

The officer was unable to get the fire out on his own and within two minutes the bleachers were on fire, Hagen said.

“Then it was off to the races,” Hagen said. “It was pretty sad.”

He said while the stands didn’t burn to the ground, they are a total loss. The dugouts and other facilities nearby were untouched by the fire.

The stadium’s wooden roof now is crumpled into the seats, which are a mix of ash and burned wood.

On Tuesday morning, Queen walked around piles of burned boards with an insurance agent to determine the total damage of the fire. He held a baseball in his hand and wore a Glacier Babe Ruth ballcap.

“We don’t feel too hopeful right now,” he said. “Everyone who has ever played here feels the loss, this was a class stadium and a landmark for our town.”

Hours later, Queen discovered the field didn’t have any structural insurance, meaning the repair costs would have to fall on the league.

He said money-raising efforts like this in the past have brought the community together, and he hopes to see that happen when the teams start looking for funding to rebuild the grandstand.

“I know it cost about $30,000 in material to build this in 1989, so we are looking at a lot more than that with today’s prices,” Queen said. “I hope to have this rebuilt by fall with its character remaining. No one wants to wait 12 years for this.”

Queen said while the league works to rebuild the stadium, the Columbia Falls teams will have to travel to Whitefish for practices.

The Sapa-Johnsrud Babe Ruth Field was named in memory of two former players — Jimmy Sapa and Ray Johnsrud — who were part of the Glacier team that competed in the Babe Ruth World Series in 1983.

A year later, the two players died in a collision with a train while they were driving home from a baseball practice.

“I had played with them until their tragic death,” Queen said of Johnsrud and Sapa. “This fire makes it feel like that’s happening all over again.”

Queen has been the president of the organization for 13 years.

His Facebook page is scattered with pictures of his children on the field. One was from his 14-year-old son’s game Sunday night. Another shows his daughter smiling toward the field.

“We didn’t know that Sunday would be the last game played there,” Queen said. “This town is heartbroken. It’s a plain and simple sad deal.”

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fire. Sheriff Chuck Curry said as of Tuesday afternoon, there weren’t any leads on suspects.

The Hungry Horse News contributed to this story.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].

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