Fire damages Blue and White Motel

An attic fire at the Blue and White Motel in Kalispell on Friday night caused thousands of dollars worth of fire, smoke and water damage and displaced about 20 motel tenants, none of whom were injured.

According to Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Dedman, firefighters initially responded to the motel at 11:30 p.m. for a smoke investigation, but upgraded the call to a structure fire upon their arrival.

Dedman said the blaze started from an overburdened electrical circuit with outdated wiring and took responders approximately 2 ½ hours to extinguish.

After evacuating all tenants from the building and locating the hot spot above three rooms, fire personnel from both Kalispell and Evergreen departments attacked the fire through the ceilings.

According to the head maid at the Blue and White, Pamela Britt, the staff first called in for the smoke investigation when a tenant reported hearing a crackling noise in the ceiling.

In addition to the attic, the blaze ruined three rooms and a total of 11 rooms were still without electricity Monday afternoon.

All 20 tenants impacted were relocated to other rooms in the motel for the duration of repairs.

Britt said she hoped the rooms not impacted by water or smoke damage would have electricity restored and be operational again within the next week.

Dedman estimated the total damage at between $5,000 to $10,000.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.