Business burns in suspicious fire

A long-time Polson business is in ruins after it was robbed and lit on fire early Thursday morning.

Polson Fire Chief Clint Cottle said multiple authorities responded to reports of a blaze at Schulz Refrigeration on Seventh Avenue East around 4:30 a.m.

Cottle said firefighters arrived to find the find smoke pouring out of the building. Responders were able to contain the blaze relatively quickly, however significant internal damage still occurred.

The company’s owner Dick Schulz, who had been spending the holidays at his home on the Oregon coast, said he rushed back the following day to find his business of 54 years in shambles. Schulz said it appeared the culprits had broke into his safe, stolen money and then doused important documents and files with flammable liquid. He said the fire destroyed many of his receipts, titles and documents necessary to run his business.

“It’s a real hit in the gut, that after 54 years, someone would do this,” Schulz said.

Schulz’s wife Ellen Traylor said that the damage was worse than initially imagined.

“I did not envision it to be a black hole like this,” she said, referring to the charred remains of one corner of the building.

Traylor said the fact that the culprits weren’t satisfied with the contents of the safe could be an indication of their motives.

“I have a sense that this was some kind of vengeance,” she said.

This fire has been ruled suspicious and Cottle said the Polson Police Department has taken over the investigation.

Traylor said it’s difficult to even determine exactly what was lost in the fire, much less begin moving forward.

“We’re still stumbling through it all,” she said.