Valley View home lost to fire
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VALLEY VIEW — Fire totally destroyed the home of a Valley View family on Saturday, Jan. 22.
Homeowner Tammy Barr noticed flames coming out of her windows as she pulled back into her driveway after delivering pizza to her children, who were helping rake leaves for a neighbor just a few blocks away.
In the five minutes it took her to deliver lunch, the house had completely gone up in flames.
"It was amazing," Barr said. "If we would've been in it, we probably would've died. I am just so grateful that my kids were out of the house."
Barr said she loaded her dog up, who was outside, and went back to the neighbor's house to call 911. The dispatch call for a fire at 41749 Valley View Road was made at 2:20 p.m.
Polson Volunteer Fire Department public information officer Karen Sargeant said the structure was a total loss.
Fire department personnel estimated damage to the home and contents at $310,000. The firefighters used foam to contain the blaze although Sargeant said they had to chase the fire as it kept escaping into different crawl spaces. Firefighters from three stations — 22 in all — stayed at the building for approximately five and a half hours to make sure the blaze was completely out.
Three tenders ferried water to the structure engine from a fire hydrant near the old Rancho restaurant in Polson, making eight trips Sargeant noted, but there was never a time when water was not available.
A wind out of the west/southwest aided firefighters by pushing the fire away from them and away from a 500-gallon propane tank located on the property.
Barr said she is grateful to firefighters for their rapid response and the entire community for the flood of help she is receiving.
“I know tons of people in Polson and it’s amazing how wonderful this community is ... I don’t even know what to do with all the people who want to help me right now,” she said.
While she tries not to think of all that was lost in the fire, Barr is thankful that it was only “things.”
“It’s just a house and they are only things, and we are all O.K.,” she said.
As her husband Wes is a carpenter, the Barr family, including the couple’s three children, plan to rebuild their home in the same place.
“We love Valley View and we love Polson so we’re just going to build it in the same spot,” Barr said.
“A very nice family has a four bedroom house around the corner we can live in while we build a new one,” she added.
Though she had been cooking just prior, Barr said there were many possible causes and couldn’t speculate as to the fire’s origin.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Sargeant.
