Fire breaks out in residential neighborhood

| October 8, 2009 11:00 PM

Jasmine Linabary/Bigfork Eagle

Area volunteer fire departments responded to a house fire Friday morning on Terrace Hill Road, behind the Bigfork schools.

The house, located at 145 Terrace Hill, was consumed entirely by the fire and is considered a total loss, said Chief Wayne Loeffler of the Bigfork Volunteer Fire Department.

Local firefighters received the call to the fire at roughly 8:20 a.m. Thirty firefighters from Bigfork, Ferndale and Creston responded to the scene. The fire was considered clear shortly before 4 p.m.

Chris and Virginia King and their family were the residents of the home. The family includes four children, boys ages 17 and 8 and girls ages 6 and 3.* Three people were in the residence when the fire happened.

Loeffler said the structure was older and the material caught fire quickly. No other homes or structures were damaged in the fire.

The origin of the fire is still under investigation. The fire was most intense in the basement, which means it could have originated there, Loeffler said.

This fire was the maiden voyage of Bigfork's new ladder truck acquired last December. Loeffler said the truck was an asset for this particular fire, allowing crews to get water power to other areas of the scene.

"It really made a difference," Loeffler said about the truck.

The Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce sent out a call to members to help the King family Friday afternoon since nothing was salvageable from the house. Donations for the family are being collected at Harvest Foods, where Chris King is employed.

Store manager Marcus Balgos said the store has been overrun with responses from the community.

"It's a small community and everyone is coming together," Balgos said.

Balgos received calls all day Friday from community members wanting to help, including offers to make dinners, throw a birthday party for one of the children, and provide the family use of currently for sale townhouse while they look for a new place.

Balgos said donated items are being stored in shopping carts until the King family finds a new residence.

Donations were also being collected at the tailgate and customer appreciation party hosted by Flathead Bank prior to the Homecoming football game Friday.