Car and chicken coop fires lead into holiday
A pair of fire calls kept members of the Lovell Volunteer Fire Department busy in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday.
On Friday, Dec. 22, a call came in at 5:05 p.m. about a car filled with smoke at Eighth and Nevada in Lovell.
According to Assistant Chief Bob Mangus, the car, a 2016 Nissan Versa, was smoking due to an electrical fire in the area of the steering column that had also spread up into the headliner above the steering wheel.
According to the response report, the owner said the car had been having electrical problems but a dealer in Billings said they couldn’t find a problem, so the owner brought it home.
On Sunday, Dec. 24, firemen were called at 5:40 p.m. to a chicken coop fire at 49 Highway 14A East. The 15- by 20-foot coop was fully involved when firemen reached the scene, according to the fire report.
The resident of the property was not home at the time of the fire, but a party watching the place for the owners said a heat lamp was used to keep the coop warm, and a heating device for the water for the chickens was also in use, Mangus said.
The coop was a complete loss, he said, and he didn’t know if any of the birds were harmed, but he said there were many chickens in the area of the coop “running around” and firemen didn’t note any dead birds in the coop.