By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Fire broke out last night at the Moose lodge in Morton on what is normally the biggest night of the year.
The Saturday night crowd during the Morton Loggers Jubilee was just starting to trickle in when the fire department was called, according to lodge administrator Terry Pierce.
About 40 people were evacuated, Pierce said.
Lewis County Fire District 4 was called about 10:18 p.m. to the building that sits on Main Street.
The wall facing the alley was burning, District 4 E.M.S. Capt. Shelli Harbaugh said.
“The fire went inside, but it started outside,” Harbaugh said. She described the damage as minimal.
No injuries were reported.
It took about 30 minutes to extinguish because it was metal siding over wood, according to Harbaugh.
It was a storage room that sustained smoke and water damage, she said.
Pierce said several items had been moved there to make more room inside the lodge for the weekend, such as chairs, tables, a deep fat chicken fryer and a copy machine. They also keep lodge records in the storage room, he said.
A fire investigator was called to determine the cause.
The fire department said it appeared to have started in a bin full of paper products, recyclables, outside.
“Very bad, we lost a lot of revenue,” Pierce said. “But we can’t thank the fire department enough.”
Because of the street dance, members of the fire department were staffing the station at that time.
The annual festival in Morton includes a logging show, a parade, and other events over a three-day period.
Pierce was told if it hadn’t have been for that, if volunteer firefighters had to respond from elsewhere, the entire building could have been lost.
The lodge is open for business today.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter