Lakefront vacation home destroyed in Finley Point fire

FINLEY POINT — There is “nothing left” of a Finley Point summer home that was decimated by a fire on Thursday morning, according to Finley Point Fire Chief Chris Ricciardi.

The home on Staves Lane was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Many of the seasonal homes adjacent to the property in either direction were also empty, helping the fire to burn unnoticed until it was visible from afar.

“It was called in by someone clear across the lake,” Ricciardi said of the call that came from a concerned citizen on Rocky Point who had spotted the fire around 8:15 a.m. Finley Point fire crews were on scene within ten minutes and were soon joined by Polson fire personnel to contain the blaze.

By the time of response, Ricciardi says that the fire was “actually on the downscale,” as most of the building’s contents and roof had already burned.

Though the dwelling sat in close proximity to trees and other houses, “structures next door were not affected at all,” Ricciardi said.

There was no immediately apparent cause of the fire, which is now under investigation by the home’s insurance company.

“It would be really hard to tell how that fire started,” said Ricciardi.