Brown Creek Road family loses home
March 5, 2011

South Boundary fire chief Tony Rohrwasser mans the hose and directs firefighters working to put out a house fire on Brown Creek Road Saturday morning.
A family who'd only moved in last year lost their Brown Creek Road home to fire this morning. The family was away on a snowmobiling trip and no one was at home when the fire broke out, however, a neighbor said that there were two Pomeranians in the house, neither apparently made it out.

 

The fire was reported at 8:40 a.m. when a passerby noticed smoke coming from the roof of the home. Firefighters from the South Boundary and Paradise Valley Fire Districts responded, and were slowed in their efforts to extinguish the blaze by a gas leak. By the time the gas was shut off, flames had broken through the roof of the structure and the attic was fully involved.

 

Neighbors said the home was being rented by Jerry Lockman, who is on disability, his wife, Teresa, who works at Schweitzer Mountain, and several children. They said the family had just moved in last year, and this was their first winter in the home.

 

It appears firefighters will be able to save much of the structure, but it's likely the home and its contents were completely destroyed. Cause of the fire remains under investigation.