Call it good fortune or providence, but there were at least two miracles in a horrible house fire that consumed one of the largest and nicest residences in Thompson Falls early Monday morning.
First, that one-year old Marissa Contreras awoke and screamed to wake her mother before being overcome by smoke and then that her mother was able to get herself and her two young children out of a home that was on fire and quickly filling with smoke.
Freedom Contreras awoke to hear her daughter, Marissa, screaming and when she got to her room, she found the floor and the crib on fire with her son Anthony also in the room.
Freedom grabbed the kids, and a portable phone and ran out of the house. She called her mother, Laura, who was working and told her of the fire just as the phone went dead.
Laura called 9-1-1 at 11:40 p.m. Sunday and by Monday morning, the house was virtually burned to the ground.
Fire crews from the Thompson Falls City and Rural departments answered the call and city fire fighters were on the scene until after 9 a.m. as they continued to pour water on hot spots.
“We’ve lost countless irreplaceable personal items and keepsakes,” said Laura, “things like old photos of my grandparents and baby pictures.”
Laura said it looks like the fire was electrical in origin. The fire began in the northeast corner of the home in the baby’s bedroom. Right below that room was the utility room with the electrical service box for the home. When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out the window of the upstairs bedroom where the kids had been sleeping.
Despite tens of thousands of gallons of water and six fire trucks, firefighters were unable to rapidly extinguish the fire, which quickly spread to all four levels of the home. They were successful in containing the fire to the home and a garage, attached on the north side of the home was saved, as was a garage to the east.
As the fire engulfed the home, built in the early 1960s by James and Doris Taylor, the roof eventually gave way about 1:30 a.m. said Firefighter Shawni Vaught.
Windows would periodically burst from the heat and flames and with a new burst of air; the fire would burn more violently. At times, flames were shooting 50 feet into the air.
By Monday around 7 a.m., rural firefighters were released and five city volunteers remained on the scene, continuing to douse areas as they flamed back to life. Firefighters feared the giant stone chimney could collapse, although the walls adjacent to the chimney were still standing.
Assistant Fire Chief Nelson Butler noted the lowest level of the home contained about four feet of water and it appeared the septic tank was collapsing under the ground to the south.
The home was owned by Laura and Eugene Contreras and was insured, said Laura. She, her daughter and grandchildren went to her parents’ house west of town for the immediate future. She indicated they would likely rebuild. Eugene Contreras is currently out of town.
Clinton Taylor, who grew up in the home and who now resides directly east, said he awoke to the glow of flames shooting from the home and quickly called 9-1-1. He said the other call had just been made. As he watched, he noted his family, including five siblings, all grew up on the site, with the original home being moved out and up the hill when his parents constructed this house. And ironically, he noted, the 1968 fire truck that was parked in the driveway was one his dad had brought back to Montana for the fire department 40 years ago.
Although an all-volunteer department, the city’s fire crews were on the scene and fighting the fire in less than 10 minutes. Their second truck from the downtown station arrived a short time later and backup trucks and crews from the rural fire district arrived shortly after that.
Because of the heavy smoke, fierce flames and that fact that it was a multi-level home with fire on all levels, firefighters were prevented from entering the structure and fought the blaze from the outside.