Inferno in uptown Kellogg
JOSH McDONALD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 5 months AGO
Photos by Josh McDonald The McConnell Hotel in Kellogg in flames around 3:30 p.m.
JOSH McDONALD/Hagadone News Network A firefighter sprays water on the front of the McConnell Hotel in Kellogg. Winds carried flaming debris to other buildings in the area.
The rooftop of Patrick’s Steakhouse on Division Street.
The McConnell Hotel at 3:15 p.m. before the south wall collapsed.
Even heros need to be able to breathe.
Deputy Jeremey Groves runs to evacuate people in adjacent buildings.
Firefighter put out the fire inside of Silver Valley SignWorks.
After the front of the McConnell collapsed.
The side of the McConnell as the fire blazed.
The blaze was too much.
Fire Chief Aamodt watches in horror as the hillside to the south of the McConnell is ignited after some strong winds.
KELLOGG — Silver Valley residents and first responders watched helplessly Tuesday afternoon as a local historical treasure went up in flames.
Kjell Truesdell, acting spokesperson for Shoshone County Fire District No.2 (SCFD2) and fire warden with the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) in Cataldo, said around 2:59 p.m. Tuesday, a large structure fire broke out inside the McConnell Hotel building on Main Street in Kellogg.
Witnesses say they saw the fire start near the top of the hotel — spawning flames that reached an estimated 1,000 feet into the air — then work its way to the ground floor.
With help from winds out of the west, embers from the primary blaze at the hotel ignited another ferocious fire around 3:14 p.m. on top of the old Patrick’s Steakhouse building on Division Street across from the Kellogg Post Office.
Due to their proximity to the hotel, the neighboring rooftops of Silver Valley SignWorks, Salon 107, Wells Fargo Bank, Papa’s Barn, and Pizza Palace also received fire damage.
The hillside to the southwest of the hotel also caught fire, but was extinguished before it could spread.
Fire crews from Shoshone County Fire Districts 2 and 1 were first on scene, but were then quickly reinforced by personnel from the Mullan Volunteer Fire Department, Prichard/Murray Volunteer Fire Department, St. Maries Fire Department, and Kootenai County Fire & Rescue (KCFR).
At roughly 3:45 p.m., the front wall of the old hotel collapsed causing dust and debris to cover Main Street and make an already smoky environment worse.
The multiple fires spread the fire crews thin, but by 4:15 p.m., partial containment of the fires had been achieved.
The fire inside the steakhouse building was particularly hazardous, as it was in the middle of a residential neighborhood and filled the entire area with noxious smoke.
Crews had to put out several small spot fires, in addition to the large ones, on rooftops and lawns as far as three blocks away from the ignition source.
Some local business owners took it upon themselves to begin spraying down their rooftops to ensure they, too, would not catch on fire.
No official cause for the fire had been released at press time.
Injuries associated with the fires include a Shoshone County Sheriff’s deputy being admitted to Shoshone Medical Center with burns to his hand and heat exhaustion.
Several other first responders and volunteers were treated on scene for smoke inhalation.
With the help of KCFR’s ladder truck and IDL’s Unmanned Aerial System, officials will continue to watch the area for any other secondary fires for some time.
With hot temperatures, windy conditions, and close proximity of the buildings in uptown Kellogg, things could have been much worse.
Truesdell was saddened that more could not be done to save the affected structures, but stressed things could have been much worse without the actions of our local firefighters.
“Its sad to see a historic building like this in Kellogg become a shell, but boy-howdy, there’s some businesses and everything else (that could have been destroyed),” he said.
“The firefighters and their quick response — they did their job and put the water where it needed to be and got things locked down.”
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