Bad Rock Fire Department’s longtime chief Kirk Katzenmeyer  recently formally retired after 22 years with the department.

Katzenmeyer actually stepped down as chief more than a year ago, but has now retired from active service entirely, though he remains a trustee on the fire district board.

Bad Rock has 20 members and covers a large and busy swath of the valley, from the mouth of the Bad Rock Canyon to 1 mile south of the Silver Bullet Bar.

All told, they respond to about 340 calls a year. When the district formed in 1959 there were about 299 residents. Today there are 8,800, Katzenmeyer noted in a recent interview.

Katzenmeyer is the owner of Plumb-Rite Plumbing in Kalispell, a business he founded in 2003. The business has allowed him to leave in the event of an emergency, and there have been plenty over the years.

The department has nine engines total and two halls. The main hall on Highway 206 was built for $340,000, Katzenmeyer noted. Volunteer Steve Catlett was instrumental in getting the project off the ground at the time and volunteered his expertise and time on construction and design as well.

The project went so well it was under budget and they were able to add a fireplace in the meeting room, Katzenmeyer said.

“(Catlett) deserves a lot of credit,” Katzenmeyer said. Catlett has also since retired.

There have been several notable incidents over the years. 

In 2023 there was a massive fire at the Ivan Tyler farm. Volunteers Travis Cannon and assistant Chief Rick McCracken were first on the scene and were able to save the Tylers’ home which was adjacent to a shop that was consumed in flames.

The department fought the fire through the night and Mike’s Conoco made 30 meals for the firefighters the next day.

Cannon had been chief for the past year, but recently stepped down.

There have been tragedies as well. Katzenmeyer recalled an incident years ago where a 2 ½- year-old child choked on a hot dog. They couldn’t get the hot dog dislodged and raced the child to the hospital. A doctor was able to get it out, but the child later died after being transferred to Missoula.

There were also many happy endings. In 2020, firefighters saved a horse from a well. When firefighters arrived, just the head and front feet of the poor animal were sticking out of the well. Firefighters set up slings, blankets and tow straps around the horse and they used a tractor to pull it out, unharmed.

And that’s the gratification of the work.

“We help people that are in real trouble,” Katzenmeyer said.