Fire burns buildings east of town

The Lovell Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire east of Lovell on Road 13 north of U.S. 14A East last Thursday evening that a caller said featured “lots of smoke and 10-foot flames.” The fire was reported by a passing motorist.

Firemen were dispatched at 7:34 p.m. to 1047 Road 13, the site of the former Burnham Towing place of business.

Lovell Fire Chief Zach Blain said Assistant Chief Lynn Hitz and Captain Kyle Leithead were first on scene and found three abandoned buildings on fire, as well as weeds and grass around them. The structures were “fully involved,” he said.

“We couldn’t really go in and do a whole lot as far as putting out the structures, just able to spray water from the outside,” Blain said. “We were called so late that it was pretty hard to prevent any more damage, just contain it to that area.”

Blain said Rocky Mountain Power arrived and cut all power to the buildings, and Montana-Dakota Utilities was called to plug the gas line leading to the buildings after the riser to the house got so hot that it started leaking natural gas, plugging the line at the road.

“We made sure it wouldn’t spread and let it continue to burn to clean up the trash that was left,” Blain said. “It burned so hot that we were unable to determine the cause of the fire.”

Six trucks and 14 firemen responded to the fire, and the scene was cleared at 10:12 p.m.

On Sunday, a caller reported a small fire in a “mud hut” at the site, one of the buildings involved in the fire on Thursday. Firemen checked on the scene to make sure the fire wasn’t spreading.

Monday training

The LVFD conducted structure training Monday evening at the former Heber and Robyn Asay farm east of Lovell at 1103 Road 15 now owned by Richard Walker, who has allowed firemen to train at the location in recent months.

Firemen responded to the scene, an abandoned farmhouse, at 5:25 p.m.

“We set several fires in it to practice structure fire tactics,” Blain said. “Eventually, we got it pretty hot and let it finish burning to the ground so the new owner can clean it all up.”