STEVENSVILLE – A downtown Stevensville building was damaged in a late Saturday fire.
The Stevensville Fire Department was called to the 200 block of Main Street for smoke coming out of a heater shortly after 9:30 p.m. Crews arrived to find the second-floor eight-unit apartments to be full of smoke.
The residents were evacuated without incident or injury and town staff and the mayor are working with the American Red Cross to provide temporary housing for the nine residents displaced as a result of the fire.
Fire Chief Jeff Motley reports that the fire appears to have started in the kitchen of the business which did not have working smoke alarms or a fire sprinkler system.
Motley says the first-floor business suffered severe fire, smoke and water damage where the fire originated while the second-floor apartments sustained moderate smoke damage. The adjacent public library also sustained minor smoke damage.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Firefighters from Stevensville, Florence, Three-Mile and Victor were all called to the scene. The Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office and the Stevensville Police Department also responded.
“We are very thankful that no one was injured in this unfortunate event. All of the firefighters who responded did a remarkable job. I am very proud of their quick response and coordinated efforts on scene,” Mayor Brandon Dewey stated in a news release.
