Early-morning fire destroys Eureka's Glacier Bank
As firefighters and law-enforcement officials responded to a fire at Glacier Bank in Eureka early Thursday morning, a pharmacy was burglarized less than a mile away.
Pamida Pharmacy Owner Richard Brewer said he raced to the business just after 4 a.m., about the same time flames were seen emanating from the bank.
Prescription medication and other items were taken from the pharmacy after someone broke a window to gain access, he said.
“They helped themselves,” he said. “They just swooped up what they could and then they were gone.”
Brewer said he was at the pharmacy within 10 minutes of the activation of a burglary alarm. The city’s police officers were at the bank and unable to respond immediately, he said.
Glacier Bank President Bob Nystuen said the company’s Eureka branch is a total loss after the fire tore through the building.
Law-enforcement officials are investigating the fire and theft and have not yet drawn a connection between the two. The cause of the fire is not known. No one was in the building at the time and no injuries have been reported.
Eureka Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief John Hannay, still on the scene along U.S. 93 at about noon Thursday, said the fire caused the roof of the building to collapse.
About 20 volunteer firefighters fought the flames and several still were directing water to hot spots Thursday afternoon. U.S. 93, which runs through town, was temporarily closed and traffic was rerouted but it was reopened Thursday morning.
Firefighters returned to Glacier Bank at about 1:30 a.m. Friday when the fire ignited burned debris almost a full day after the blaze was reported, according to Eureka Volunteer Fire Department President John Livingston.
Firefighters used about 500,000 gallons of water while battling the fire, said Livingston, who echoed Nystuen’s assessment that the building is a complete loss. Livingston said it appears the fire started near the northeast corner of the building. A satellite office owned by a Whitefish law firm also was destroyed.
Glacier’s competitors are offering assistance and providing space and resources for customers and staff of the burned bank.
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(Eric Schwartz is a reporter for the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell).