Fire hits restaurant open since March
A fire Friday night destroyed a restaurant in Tiger, Wash., just south of Ione in Pend Oreille County.
The Cabin Grill, 2102 Highway 31, was housed in a log cabin and had been open since March, said Pend Oreille County Fire District 2 Chief Larry Pollock. The restaurant took up the main floor while the owners, Scott and Christine Baumgardner, lived on the second floor.
Pollock said the couple closed the restaurant at 7:30 p.m. Friday and went to bed about 9. Around 11, they awoke and discovered smoke in their apartment, which was accessible from an outdoor staircase. The couple went downstairs to retrieve a fire extinguisher, but couldn’t get into the restaurant because of the smoke. Scott Baumgardner crossed the street to call 911; by the time he got back, Pollock said, the fire was fully involved. The building was a total loss.
“They had put everything they had into (the restaurant),” Pollock said. “It’s a tragedy for the community and it’s a tragedy for them.”
Pollock said the fire started in a covered outdoor seating area, but the cause remained under investigation.
Spokane
Motorcyclist, 14, badly hurt in crash
A 14-year-old Liberty Lake boy remained in critical condition at a Spokane hospital Saturday afternoon after he collided with a car while riding a motorcycle near a North Idaho campground.
Alexander A. Oukrainets was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center after the collision Friday afternoon near Lionhead Campground at Priest Lake State Park, according to an Idaho State Police news release.
Oukrainets, traveling north in the southbound lane of East Shore Road on a Yamaha motorcycle about 2 p.m., collided with a car driven by Spokane resident Eric Akins, 50, the release stated. Akins’ 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe dragged the boy 40 to 50 feet, police said.
WEST GLACIER, Mont.
Complaints trigger new rules on waste
Human waste left after recreational use of the Flathead National Forest has led to some new rules, one requiring that boaters on the forest’s wild-and-scenic stretches of river carry portable toilets or use an approved type of bag for waste removal.
“We have received numerous complaints from the public regarding sanitation practices,” said Paula Peterson, recreation specialist for the Flathead forest.
Under the rules, people on overnight boating trips or those car camping along rivers must carry portable toilets, or biodegradable toilet bags approved for landfill disposal. Whichever the system, it must be large enough for the entire group recreating.
The toilet rule and some other new requirements are intended to help maintain the character of the corridors through which the North Fork of the Flathead River and Middle Fork of the Flathead River flow, Peterson said.
BILLINGS
Blaze on outskirts of city contained
Firefighters Saturday contained a blaze that burned about 1,100 acres on the edge of Billings and led to the brief evacuation of some homes a day earlier.
“We’re going to be baby-sitting this thing for at least a few more days,” said Boyd Vopel, battalion chief for the Billings Fire Department.
Lightning apparently caused the fire, which burned grass and trees, Vopel said. The fire near the Rehberg Ranch subdivision was reported Friday. An evacuation order imposed Friday caused people to leave about 40 homes, but ended that night.
Work against the fire included water drops by helicopters and use of heavy equipment to dig a line around it.