KALISPELL – A Sunday evening fire damaged a historic Kalispell church.
Several agencies responded to a smoke investigation at St. Matthews Church on South Main Street in Kalispell around 5 p.m.
Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Deadman said when crews arrived on scene, they determined the point of origin was in the basement’s kitchen.
It took multiple agencies approximately an hour to completely put out the flames. The exact cause of the blaze is under investigation, but Deadman does not believe foul play was involved.
The blaze caused heavy fire damage in the basement with extensive smoke damage throughout the church.
No one was in the basement when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported.
Father Rod Ermatinger, who has been with St Matthews since 2010, said he’s still processing everything that happened over the past 12 hours.
The next step is deciding where to hold mass moving forward. He told MTN News that any community members who want to help can call the church’s main office at (406) 752-6788.
The Kalispell Police Department, Evergreen Fire Department, South Kalispell Fire Department, Smith Valley Fire Department, West Valley Fire Department, Flathead County Sherriff’s Department, Flathead County Posse, Flathead Electric and Northwestern Energy all responded to the two-alarm fire.
We will update you with any new information.
