Local fire departments will team up Sunday with law enforcement and natural resource agencies for a community fundraiser to support the Smith Valley Fire Department in the wake of a destructive fire at its Foy’s Lake station earlier this month.

The Firefighter Walk-a-Mile fundraiser begins at 3 p.m. Sunday at Legends Stadium in Kalispell.

South Kalispell Assistant Fire Chief Brian Carter, who is helping organize the event, said he has gotten calls from fire and police departments from throughout the state interested in participating.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people expressing interest that are going to be coming up,” Carter said. “A lot of donations have been coming through and this is taking off bigger than we thought.”

Firefighters and other participants have been raising pledges from the community as they prepare for the event, in which they will walk at least a mile around the track at the football stadium.

Many of the firefighters and others involved in the event will do so under the weight of up to 75 pounds of firefighting gear.

“They [public participants] don’t have to put the gear on,” Carter added. “That’s more as a challenge for us, but we want everyone to bring their kids, family and whoever to just come out and show the community support for this.”

Jim Roets, a volunteer firefighter with the Marion Rural Fire Department, also has been helping organize the fundraiser. He said he expects upwards of 1,000 people may attend, with participants including the Missoula Police Department and firefighters from Libby and Eureka.

“The response we’ve gotten has just been phenomenal,” Roets said.

The fire is being investigated by the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office as a suspected arson after the damage was discovered during the Fourth of July weekend.

Smith Valley Fire Chief D.C. Haas expected the total damage to amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars but said Tuesday his department is still working with its insurance company and has not arrived at a final figure.

He did note, however, that he expects the department’s insurance to cover at least some of the damage, which included a destroyed fire truck, a heavily damaged engine and a range of firefighting gear.

Equipment such as radios, natural gas detectors and defibrillators must be shipped out and tested before they can determine whether the items are salvageable or need to be replaced.

Haas added that he’s looking forward to attending the Sunday fundraiser.

“It’ll be great to see everybody come together and it’s impressive to see the work that’s been done behind the scenes,” he said.

The walk-a-mile at Legends Stadium will run from 3 to 9 p.m. on July 31 and is free to attend.

To register as a participant or for more information, contact Roets at 406-854-2555 or by email at roets@yahoo.com.