Fire destroys Brunner Rd. home and garage

May 20--No one was injured but a garage and home on Brunner Road were destroyed in a fire on May 14.

Columbia Falls fire chief Rick Hagen said neighbors called in the fire at 5:18 p.m. when no one was at the home owned by Stan Ortel. When firefighters arrived, a two-bay garage was fully involved.

There was a welding business in the garage, and apparently someone had been using a torch on a small trailer and had left the residence. Ortel owns Well Done Drilling and was in Coram when the fire was first spotted by a neighbor.

The fire was fueled by oxyacetylene torches and propane tanks in the garage, Hagen said.

"It got big and hot really fast," he said.

The fire could easily be seen from Kalispell, as the structure fire spread to nearby grass and then set tires on fire. Embers even set fire to debris in a neighbor's pickup truck.

"It was sending off a lot of firebrands," Hagen said. "The grass fire took off to the south and started tires on fire."

Firefighters were able to keep a large motorhome next to the house from burning. The homeowner and some neighbors were able to pull it out with a pickup truck after some effort.

The house and garage were a total loss, Hagen said, but the homeowner has insurance. The family was being put up by the Red Cross, he said. The Ortels had two dogs, and one likely died in the fire.

Firefighters from Columbia Falls, Evergreen and West Valley responded, as did Three Rivers Ambulance. The Flathead County Sheriff's Department blocked off the street to traffic. Firefighters left the scene just before 11 p.m.

An online donation page for Carol Ortel has raised about $460 and can be found at www.gofundme.com/CarolOrtel.

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