Fire destroys business
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RONAN – A dark gray cloud of smoke rolled out of S&S Sports on U.S. Highway 93 near mile marker 43 on Monday, March 14, at about 1 p.m.
The business was closed like usual on a Monday afternoon, and the gates surrounding the business were locked. Mark Trim saw the smoke and headed toward the business. The owners of the business are his friends. He knew the fire department was on its way.
“My first thought was to get the gates open for the fire department,” he said. “I knew it was going to be bad.”
Trim watched as the stream of smoke grew into a cloud of black that blew up towards the mountains on the windy afternoon. The wind shifted around several times and pushed the smoke over the highway before shifting again and going back up. The smell of burning plastic was in the air.
“I’m friends with the owners,” he said. “To see their business on fire , you feel really bad.”
The fire crews from Big Arm to Arlee continued to douse the growing flames with truck after truck full of water. The Arlee Volunteer Fire Department brought in a giant water tank that once belonged to the Army. Police officers directed traffic going slowly past the fire on the highway.
Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Clay Shoemaker was on his way to lunch when he responded to the fire. He said the cause of the fire wasn’t yet known.
S&S Sports employee Albert Drebes watched the flames after he got a call that his place of employment was on fire. He said the building contained many sports utility vehicles including motorcycles, jet skies, snowmobiles and ATVs.
“This was just bad luck,” he said. “If it would have happened when we were open, we could have caught it.”
Fire crews continued to douse the flames throughout the afternoon.
