When Chris Yerkes climbed into an ambulance on the evening of Jan. 13, he had no idea he was responding to an emergency involving an old friend.  

The South Kalispell fire chief glanced down at his computer and read the dispatch call description. Seeing the address and age, he realized he was headed toward the home of Jim Holm, a longtime South Kalispell firefighter and the man whose wedding he had officiated.    

“It’s never easy when it’s somebody you know. I mean, it was tough,” Yerkes said.  

The former fire marshal was complaining about pain in his back when the ambulance arrived. But after hooking him up to a monitor, Yerkes discovered that Holm was suffering from a massive heart attack.  

“In the moment while we were doing it you get focused on the stuff that you got to do so it doesn’t really matter who’s in front of you. But afterwards — when you have a second to kind of catch your breath — it sinks in, then it definitely hits you,” he said.  

Holm, 66, died three days later in the hospital. The fire department was rocked by another death just two days later. Ben Brown, 25, died Jan. 18 in an accident involving his own vehicle near Bigfork.  

“I mean, I’ve dealt with a lot of death over the years, just by nature of being in the fire service and death of retired members ... But getting two of them in less than 48 hours just numbed you,” Yerkes said.  

THOSE WHO knew Holm knew he would give the shirt off his back to help anyone.  

He was fire marshal when Yerkes joined the South Kalispell Fire Department 25 years ago. Holm trained new recruits, passing down his expertise in structural firefighting and wildland fire suppression with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.   

“The vast majority of what I know either came from or was reinforced by Jim,” Yerkes said.   

Fighting fires in the city and out in the woods was Holm’s passion. He began working as an emergency firefighter for the state in 1994 and joined the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in 2003, spending the last 12 years as fire cache manager, according to the state agency.

Even after retiring from the South Kalispell Fire Department, he remained an honorary member and conducted annual training.  

“I know he just loved being out there and actually helping people and teaching people about fire safety,” Yerkes said.  

Holm was an exceptional mentor, but he was also an expert prankster.  

“He usually had a grin on his face, and it was most of the time because he was up to something,” Yerkes laughed.  

One prank Holm played on newcomers during slow periods at the firehouse was sending them out to “stir” the water tenders with a stick to keep the water from going stale. 

The younger firefighters may not have known him as well, but those who had stuck around grew to love Holm, whose fitting nickname was “Homey.”  

“He meant the world to us,” Yerkes said. “There’s not anybody that didn’t get along with him.”  

THE SAME could be said for Ben Brown, 25, who believed there were no strangers — only friends he hadn’t met yet, according to his obituary.   

“He was probably one of the happiest people I’ve ever met. Even when things were not going his way, he always had that big old grin on his face,” Yerkes said. 

Brown was trying to stop his vehicle from rolling in the Echo Lake Cafe parking lot when he was pinned between his vehicle's door and a pole, according to Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino.  

Yerkes met Brown during a joint call while Brown was a cadet with West Valley Fire and Rescue. The bright-eyed highschooler was constantly asking how he could help, shuttling tools and running water to firefighters.   

“I was excited when he showed up on our doorstep and applied because I knew we’d be getting definitely a hard worker out of him,” Yerkes said.  

Even mutual aid agencies appreciated his tenacity, “because he would do the work of about half a dozen men,” he added.   

Brown joined the South Kalispell Fire Department in January 2021 and never failed to offer help to anyone who needed it.   

“Anytime we’d have new people come on the department, he was one of the first to be right there to greet them and kind of take them under his wing and show them around,” Yerkes said.   

Like Holm, Brown was a known prankster around the firehouse, whether hiding equipment, filling turnout boots with glitter, or slapping unwanted bumper stickers on coworkers’ cars.  

He also had a unique approach to tending his own injuries, once attempting to cauterize a cut on his finger with a blowtorch and butter knife. At the same time, he had just completed the emergency medical technician course and planned to test for his license.   

Whenever the born-and-raised Kalispell local wasn’t wearing his firefighter’s helmet and turnout boots, he was sporting a cowboy hat and boots.  

Well over a hundred people gathered on the dirt floor of the Majestic Valley Arena on Friday, Jan. 30 to pay tribute to Brown before the Brash Rodeo, where he worked as a ranch hand and rodeo crew boss. 

Friends and family tipped their cowboy hats and wiped away tears as commentator John Ziller offered a prayer for Brown, his words interrupted by the occasional moo from a nearby cow and whinny of a horse.  

“Lord, we trust your calling and your time. You’ve taken a great friend, but you’ve also taken a great cowboy to run the rodeos in heaven. And we’re honored by that,” Ziller said.  

Brown’s son stood in the center of the arena when he was handed two cowboy hats — one made of felt for working in the cold temperatures and one made of straw for the hot summer months — “to carry on the legacy of his father and create his own legacy,” Ziller said.  

In a recorded speech, renowned rodeo announcer Bob Tallman called Brown a cowboy through and through.  

“If you were a neighbor, a friend or even a stranger, Ben showed up no questions asked. He was steady and genuine. A kind of person you could talk to without feeling like you were being judged,” Tallman said.  

Rough Stock Heritage Productions, a nonprofit committed to preserving the western way of life, started a scholarship fund in memory of Brown, who was a board member.  

WHEN YERKES beckoned the fire crew in for an emergency meeting on Jan. 18, they thought it would be regarding Holm’s funeral. But once he broke the news that Brown died, “it was shock,” Yerkes said.  

“Everybody was upset when we lost Jim, but when I had to bring everybody together and announce Ben, I mean, you could see visibly everybody was just broken. He left a very, very big hole in all their hearts,” he added.  

The firehouse was relieved from active duty for 24 hours while the Somers/Lakeside Fire Department covered their calls. Other agencies also helped out while funeral services were conducted throughout the week.  

Firefighters from across the valley filtered in and out of the station to offer their condolences, but the prayers came from well beyond Northwest Montana. Fire stations as far as the East Coast reached out. 

The crew found that spending time and talking with one another was the best way to navigate their grief. The Braveheart Chaplain Ministry also provided support and guidance to the firefighters.  

“The big thing is just kind of keeping an eye on one another for the foreseeable future,” Yerkes said.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].

    South Kalispell Fire Department firefighter Ben Brown. (South Kalispell Fire photo)