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Grass fire burns shed, camper

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POLSON — A Minesinger Trail homeowner burning grass behind a shed lost control of his fire on April 21. Believing the flames to be out in the shed area, he began burning ditches, but the flames crept under the shed, burning the building and an 18-foot camper stored in the shed, according to Karen Sargeant, Polson Fire Department Public Information Officer. 

Dispatch received a call about the fire at about 3:40 p.m., Sargeant said, when a Confederated Salish and Kootenai Game Warden spotted the shed burning and ran to tell the homeowner. 

Hooking his pickup to the camper, the man tried to pull it from the shed. He had to unhook his rig since both the shed and the camper were completely engulfed in flames. In the meantime, the telephone phone pole also went up in flames.

Phone service was out for a while, but Century Link crews from Polson and Kalispell worked all night to fix the damage, according to the Polson CenturyLink office.

Sargeant reminded burners that they are liable to pay for damage to other’s property.

“If you are doing a controlled burn on your property, and the fire gets off your property and burns a neighbor’s property or damages a utility on your property, you are fully responsible,” she said. 

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