Homeowner saves house from fire

POLSON — When Polson resident Jay Enger picked up free smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher from city hall while paying his water bill last month, he had no idea that in a matter of three weeks’ time those basic fire prevention utensils would save his home from destruction.

Last Friday, Jay left the house to run an errand downtown. When he returned to his 14th Avenue home just past 1 p.m., he noticed the power was out at his house. His wife Joyce came home as Jay flipped the power back on with the breaker. Shortly thereafter his house filled with smoke and the sound of his wife yelling from inside.

Jay ran inside to find an electrical fire that had started in the wiring of the furnace, before running to the kitchen where he had recently stashed the fire extinguisher and then doused the flames with its contents.

Enger then called the fire department to let them know that it was under control and that he just saved his house by himself with the tools offered by the department. You see, the extinguisher and alarms Jay was using were offered free by the department to those in need in the community earlier this year — acquired with $500 in fire prevention grant money from Wal-Mart and the Firefighter Charitable Foundation.

“This grant money was meant to help those in need in the community, the tools were offered, somebody used them, and it ended saving a house and serving its exact intended purpose,” Polson Fire Chief John Fairchild said.

The fire chief explained that the home on the east side of town was built in the 1940s and was made of dried out wood that provided a situation for a very fast burn if the fire had extended to the structure.

“If he had not had the fire extinguisher, there’s no doubt in my mind that he would’ve been displaced that day,” Fairchild said.

The chief thanked the charitable organizations that donated the grant money for the worthwhile help to the community and the city’s volunteer fire department.

“Everything worked in sync as a whole towards a common good, and that’s what being a community is all about,” he said.