Swan Valley Emergency Services had their first engine to the Swan Valley Cafe within eight minutes of being paged Aug. 18. However Fire Chief Randy Williams said it was already fully involved and they went into defensive mode to protect the surrounding structures and property.
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation wildland firefighter patrolling the property around the Swan Valley Cafe. They extinguished one spot fire that was about 100 yards from the structure.
Swan Valley Emergencies Services received a shipment of canned drinking water this past July. They have used nearly an entire palate since they received it.
Swan Valley Emergency Services Fire Chief Randy Williams grabs some water during the fire Thursday.
The Pastime Kitchen is a new business in the Swan Valley. Dale and Karen Conley completed extensive remodeling of this building near Condon before opening for business this summer. To read the story visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1987-08-27.pdf
SWAN VALLEY – Swan Valley resident Barry Brubaker yelled at Swan Valley Centre owner Mike Smith to call the Fire Department.
"I was talking to someone on the business phone and I looked over and said, 'Gotta go. The Café is on fire,'" Smith said. "I hung up on them and called 9-1-1."
Smith said he saw two-foot flames were shooting out of the north door area which is where the walk-in cooler and freezer are on the north covered deck.
"To have flames that big shooting out of that area, it didn't take long to get in the attic," Smith said. "It was a horrible feeling. It was like how can I put it out. If you were standing there with a hose going you probably couldn't have put it out. It was pretty hard emotionally to sit there kind of helpless."
The Swan Valley community lost a piece of history this past week. Filled with more than 35 years of memories, the Swan Valley Café burned to the ground Thursday, Aug. 18. Swan Valley Emergency Services (SVES) Fire Chief Randy Williams said the Café was closed and the building was vacant at the time of the fire. While the investigation is ongoing, Williams said no criminal activity is suspected.
Just before 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the fire was reported to Missoula Dispatch.
"When I got to the Fire Hall and I looked over there I thought 'Holy Smokes this thing is gone,'" Williams said.
Since there was a vehicle parked next to the café, Smith said Brubaker ran across the street and started looking in the window with a motorist who stopped to see if they could help. The door frame was hot to the touch so they ran over to the owner's home and found out no one was in the building.
Williams was on the first engine on scene, eight minutes after the call went out.
"It was fully involved," Williams said. "We went right into defensive mode because there was no saving it. We were trying to put trees out and a grass fire to try and keep it from spreading."
Swan Valley Cafe Owner Jesse Arno ran a fire line with his dozer around the structure while volunteer firefighters worked to contain the blaze, Williams said.
As resources arrived, SVES volunteers closed down Highway 83 for a very short time to provide better access for emergency vehicles and ensure motorist safety. They maintained a single lane of traffic initially to ensure water tenders could access the area quickly.
"Our response was phenomenal, I thought," Williams said. "We did what we had to do. It was pretty hot and furious at the beginning...but there was no saving it."
SVES brought their three water tenders, wildland engine, structure engine and they requested Swan Lake Emergency Services' water tender. Williams said nearly their entire roster of 28 volunteers for SVES, including fire and medical volunteers, responded to the incident. Williams said other qualified fire and medial responders from surrounding areas also showed up to assist.
"We could have put 200 people on that fire and it wouldn't have changed the end result, it was gone," Williams said. "All we needed to do was keep it from spreading."
At Williams request, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation sent two engines for wildland support. They patrolled for spot fires and caught one in the trees about 100 yards from the Café.
In addition to the Café, a storage shed and an employee vehicle that was adjacent on the property were lost in the blaze.
Later in the day, after the investigator was finished, Arno brought in his excavator to pull apart material and put out hot spots.
Volunteer firefighters remained on scene until 9 p.m. Thursday night. Williams said when he returned Friday morning "It was dead out." Williams said the Café was insured.
The loss of the Swan Valley Café takes with it a lot of memories and history for the locals. Smith said the original trailer house operated as a café in several different locations, including on Highway 83 near Barber Creek Road and next to the Swan Valley Centre where it sat vacant for several years. Dale and Karen Conley purchased the trailer and moved it across Highway 83 to its current location. They added on the back section and opened The Pastime Kitchen in April 1987. The Conleys ran it for eight years before selling to Frank and Jan Amato.
Mike and Pat Smith, current owners of the Swan Valley Centre, purchased the Swan Valley Café in 2002. They added the coolers, the covered room and installed a deck on the back. Pat renovated it and opened for business in 2003.
It was closed for several years before Swan Valley residents Arno and Hailey Loudon purchased it June 1, 2021. They opened for business by mid-June.
For the past year the Swan Valley Café has welcomed locals and visitors for breakfast, lunch and dinner specials.
"This year they were really getting in the groove. That's why we bought it was because the valley needed another café," Smith said. "It's tough, it is really hard, knowing a major business is gone."
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