Seeley Lake Residents Lose Homes in Tragic House Fires Thursday

Broken hearts and broken dreams were evident yesterday (Thursday) afternoon in Seeley Lake.

I had a call scheduled at 4:00 p.m. yesterday with an acquaintance of mine, Terry Antonich, who owns Seeley Lake Rent-All. Terry had to miss that call, as right across the street from his in-town shop, firefighters from the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District were dealing with a structure fire on Juniper Drive. Multiple structures were involved and community members in the neighborhood were trying to do their part working to keep the flames from spreading using their garden hoses. Other fire districts also sent crews and resources to battle the blaze.

It took the better part of two hours before most of the flames could be knocked down and  mop-up duties could get under way. Other firefighters were busy putting out spot fires several blocks away from the main fire. The Missoula County Sheriff's Office implemented an Evacuation Warning for Seeley Lake residents from Highway 83 up Redwood Lane east to Badger Court and from Redwood Lane north on Spruce and Tamarack Drive to Cottonwood Lane. Residents were put on notice to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

As we post this, the exact number of structures lost and cause of the fire have not been released. But we do know there are some very sad stories involving Seeley Lake families and their losses. You can learn more about them and check out the Go Fund Me pages set up for those community members who lost their homes in the fire here. Our thanks to Andi Bourne with the Seeley Swan Pathfinder for making us aware of those fundraisers.