Fire hits Koocanusa Resort
The shower and laundry house and garage at Koocanusa Resort and Marina were destroyed by a fire believed to have been sparked by an outside light.
By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter
A Monday evening fire destroyed the shower and laundry house and garage at Koocanusa Resort and Marina.
Two men taking showers when the fire broke out escaped unharmed. A firefighter injured while battling the blaze was treated and released from St. John's Lutheran Hospital.
Marina owner Randie Burch credited campers and the U.S. Forest Service with preventing the fire from spreading to nearby propane and gasoline tanks while they waited for Libby Volunteer Fire Department.
"We had about 15 to 20 guests that just stepped up to the plate," Burch said. "They brought hoses (from their campers) and hooked them to faucets. They doused the trees real good and did an awesome job."
"My husband ran into the shower house and brought out the pressure washer to hose (things down)," she continued.
The Forest Service dumped water from a helicopter around the burning building.
The cause of the 7:15 p.m. fire appears accidental, said Tom Wood, chief for Libby Volunteer Fire Department.
"My investigation zeroed in on an outside light on the front of the building," Wood said.
Firefighters had to drive 23 miles to the marina. When they arrived, the blaze was fully involved, he said.
"The fire department did a great job of getting right on it and the fire inspector was awesome," Burch said.
Burch, who for four years has owned the marina with her husband, Randy, did not have a damage estimate for the wood-frame building from the insurance company.
Wood guesses the building was valued at $70,000.
The fire also destroyed the building's contents.
"We basically lost everything to run the place - all of our tools, air compressors, freezers full of food, a lawn mower, weed wackers, two boat motors and everything you put in your garage," Randie Birch said. "It's a huge loss."
Firefighter Jeff Best sprained his ankle after the ladder he was securing fell and pinched his ankle between one of the rungs and the ground, Wood said.
IRS, one of the contractors hired to help with cleanup of asbestos in Libby, donated a shower house to the marina.
The Burches will rebuild.
Firefighters remained on scene for three hours.