Investigators checking cause of stubborn Missoula fire

(MISSOULA)- Investigators are working to determine what caused a stubborn Missoula house fire this morning.

The blaze was reported just before 7 a.m. Saturday morning in the 2300 block of Duncan Drive, just off Lolo Street. Arriving fire crews found heavy smoke coming from the two story house. 

Three engine companies and 1 ladder company spent the next couple of hours trying to save the structure, ferreting out the fire in hidden attic spaces and walls. Crews were able to gain control of the blaze in about an hour and spent the rest of the morning mopping up and protecting adjacent structures. 

The cause of the fire is undetermined. Damage is estimated at $75,000. 

Missoula fire crews stop house from catching fire

(MISSOULA)- Missoula firefighters were able to limit the damage when a deck on a house caught fire overnight.

Fire crews were called to 1300 block of Harrison Street just before 11:30 Monday night with the report of a flat roof and deck area on a home that had caught fire. The building was evacuated and an alert neighbor helped keep the fire in check with a garden house until fire trucks arrived.

Missoula Fire Department Battalion Chief Chad Nicholson says firefighters were able to knock down the fire quickly and keep it from spreading into the second story of the building.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. The home was being remodeled but investigators aren’t sure if a problem with that work sparked the fire. Damage was limited to an estimated $7,000. 

Missoula rescuers spend hours helping injured dirt bike rider

(MISSOULA)- It took over 6-hours of work and coordination, but local emergency agencies were able to help rescue a young dirt bike rider injured in the foothills outside Missoula this weekend.

Missoula Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Brandt says the rescue started around 8:30 p.m. Friday evening when dispatchers got a call that a young had been hurt near the Blue Mountain lookout. However, getting to his exact location turned out to be a major undertaking.

The Life Flight helicopter was able to fly over the area and found the rider had crashed about 1-mile away, and downhill from any possible landing site. That meant he would have to taken out in the darkness uphill on a narrow trail.

Using the combined resources of the Missoula Fire Department, Missoula Rural Fire Department and Life Flight, rescuers were able to start shuttling help into the scene. 3-Missoula firefighters with specialized equipment were able to be flown in to the landing zone by chopper, along with three more crew from Missoula Rural Fire.

The combined team was able to reach the injured rider and get him back uphill where he could be flown out to St. Patrick Hospital. Then the chopper was used to fly the rescuers off the mountain in two separate flights.

Brandt says previous training operations between the agencies helped make the rescue successful. 

Missoula theater evacuated because of small fire

(MISSOULA)- Missoula theater goers were treated to a little off screen excitment Thursday evening when a small fire forced the Carmike 10 to be evacuated.

Missoula firefighters were dispatched to the theater off Reserve Street just before 7:30 p.m. when alarms went off because of a fire that was burning on the roof of the building. Fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze quickly, but the entire theater was evacuated as a precaution. 

Missoula Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Brandt says the fire did create some smoke inside the building in a men's restroom, but damage was limited to about $2000.

An investigator is checking into the cause of the blaze. 

Oil in Clark Fork probably came from parked car

KPAX TV photo by Breanna Roy(MISSOULA)- The Missoula Fire Department says that "oil spill" seen in the Clark Fork River Tuesday probably came from a leaking car parked near the river. 

Fire crews were called out Tuesday afternoon when a man walking along the river spotted ducks swimming through an oil sheen near the Higgins Street Bridge. 

KPAX TV reports a city hazardous materials team quickly traced the source of the oil and found it came from a storm drain on Higgins Street. It's believed the oil was transmission fluid that probably leaked from a parked car. Only about a gallon of oil spilled into the river and that was cleaned up. The city will be monitoring the scene as a precaution.