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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Rural Bar Fires Spark Questions

The scene of A&P's Bar and Grill fire in Sandpoint earlier this winter. (Courtesy photo)

Six bars in mostly remote towns in the Inland Northwest have been destroyed by fire in the past 10 months, but there’s no interstate fire reporting system in place that might help determine whether a pattern exists. Four of the fires occurred in the Idaho Panhandle and two more burned just across the state line in northwestern Montana, causing thousands of dollars in damage but no loss of life or injuries. Two of the bar fires in Idaho – one in Avery and another in Osburn – occurred the same day. “Yeah, now that you point this out, it makes me wonder if something is going on here,” said one ranking fire official who asked not to be publicly identified. “I wonder, is there someone who has a thing against bars, maybe?” The causes of five of the fires are listed as undetermined; the sixth fire, which destroyed a bar in downtown Sandpoint on Feb. 6, was determined to be accidental/Bill Morlin, for the SR. More here.

Question: Do you have a favorite, old-time, western bar?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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