Flames destroy Polson home
Boone Goddard
Polson, Ronan and Finley Point firefighters work into the night to put out a structure fire. They used approximately 8,000 gallons of water.
Berl Tiskus
Boone Goddard
Homeowners Barbara and Lucky Donnegan are comforted by neighbors as they watch a fire consume their home of 28 years.
Boone Goddard
Boone Goddard
Boone Goddard
Homeowners Barbara and Lucky Donnegan are comforted by neighbors as they watch a fire consume their home of 28 years.
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POLSON — Even a moniker like Lucky didn’t stop the fire that burned Lucky and Barbara Donnegan’s house on April 2, but the couple, their dog and their cat escaped the flames and were not injured.
At approximately 6 p.m., dispatch received a call that there was a fire in the basement of the residence at 511 Fifth Avenue. Firefighters arrived on scene minutes later.
Greeted by heavy, dark smoke billowing from both chimneys and the windows, Captain Martin Glasson and Polson firefighters started battling the blaze. When Glasson, the incident commander, determined that the roof had three different layers as well as a thick floor separating the attic from the lower floor, he immediately called for mutual aid from the Finley Point and Ronan Fire Departments, according to Polson Fire information officer Karen Sargeant.
Glasson pulled all firefighters outside the building and treated the fire defensively, fighting it from the exterior.
Using the new ladder truck, firefighters were able to reach the roof to cut ventilation holes and spent most of the night trying to extinguish the fire in the attic, using approximately 8,000 gallons of water from a hydrant, Sargeant said. Finally, at about 12:30 p.m., firefighters put out the fire.
The cause is still under investigation since the basement is full of water, and officials aren’t able to access it. Losses were estimated at approximately $140,000. As far as the fire department is aware, the owners have no insurance. The Donnegans have lived in the house for 28 years.
Barbara said she didn’t even have shoes or her purse when she left the residence. Someone, and she didn’t even know who, slipped socks on her bare feet and she and Lucky sat watching memories burn.
Sargeant said firefighting efforts were well-coordinated and went smoothly, with about 25 firefighters from Polson, Ronan and Finley Point on site. Firefighters made two trips back to the Polson Fire Station for air bottles. John Stevens, now Assistant Chief of the Polson Police Department, but who was a firefighter for years, refilled air bottles at the station for them.
The firefighters returned to their stations at 12:30 but the night had not ended for them. They cleaned all the gear, refilled the air bottles and left the trucks ready to go, so many didn’t get into bed until about 2 a.m.
A few shingles ignited at the site during the morning of April 3, and Polson firefighters returned to deal with them.
