HELENA – Firefighters that fought the large structure fire on Highway 282 in Jefferson County on October 4say they are immensely thankful for all the community support they received that night.
Firefighters spent over 7 hours battling the fire in cold rain yesterday and Jefferson City Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bud Siderits said community members came out with soup, sandwiches and drinks to thank them for their work.
“You can’t say enough of how they came to try and help the homeowner and support us,” said Siderits.
One of the challenges firefighters faced with the fire was the amount of smoke produced when some of the original timber of the home, that dated back to the 1860’s, caught fire and essentially created a large bonfire.
“Once that got burning we tried our best and hit it with everything we had,” said Siderits.
Siderits said unfortunately they had to demolish the building, with owner approval, over the night and thankfully no one got injured.
Fire officials say the homeowner was asleep when the fire began and credit working smoke detectors for preventing the loss of life.
“It’s so important to check on your smoke detectors,” said Siderits, “Every bedroom should have one and then the hallway to the bedroom should have one.”
Siderits also recommends having a yearly date that hold significance such as a birthday or anniversary for when a person changes the batteries in their detectors.
The Red Cross is assisting the family and a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family during this difficult time for them.
