Renovation crews tackle fire aftermath

Work to repair the historic St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Kalispell that was heavily damaged by fire on Mother’s Day has been underway for about two weeks.

Dayspring Restoration is in charge of the cleanup work. The Montana company has six in-state offices, including Kalispell, and specializes in cleaning buildings that have been damaged in fires, floods or storms.

On Monday workers were carrying out charred pieces of wood and other items damaged in the blaze that caused an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the building. The church has served the Kalispell area since 1911.

An initial estimate of the damage was about $150,000, but after the extent of the loss was known, that could top more than one-half million dollars, according to one Dayspring representative.

Kris Schallock, the western regional manager for Dayspring, said the company had been working in the church for the last two weeks and expected to be there for another six to eight weeks.

“We’re working on the smoke odor and demolition of things that were damaged in the fire,” Schallock said. “We’ll have 10 to 15 working on it at any time.”

The smoke odor is now less than what it had been, but was still noticeable near entrance ways and as it was being vented outside through PVC tubing. The hope is that heavy smoke damage can be cleaned and restored.

St. Matthews Church’s the Rev. Rod Ermatinger previously said the fire was believed to have started in the kitchen area of the basement. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, however.

According to a previous Daily Inter Lake story, a quick response from firefighters from Kalispell, Evergreen, Smith Valley, West Valley and Whitefish fire departments kept the May 12 blaze from spreading to the sanctuary on the main level of the church.

Saturday and Sunday Mass are being held in the St. Matthew’s School gymnasium, while weekday Mass was canceled until further notice.

The May 12 fire wasn’t the first to strike the historical building whose cornerstone was laid in 1910 and opened in 1911. During an eighth-grade research project, it was learned a fire broke out in 1938, which damaged an ornate altar that was replaced.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker can be reached at sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com or at 406-758-4441.