KALISPELL – A Sunday evening fire damaged a historic Kalispell church.
Multiple agencies responded to a smoke investigation to St. Matthews Church on South Main Street in Kalispell at around 5 p.m.
Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Deadman said when crews arrived on scene it was determined the fire appeared to have started in the basement kitchen.
It took multiple agencies approximately an hour to completely put out the flames. The exact cause of the blaze is under investigation, but Deadman does not believe any foul play was involved.
No one was in the basement when the fire broke out and no injuries have been reported.
Father Rod Ermatinger, who has been with St. Matthews since 2010, says he’s still processing everything that’s happened over the past 12 hours.
The next step is figuring out where to hold mass moving forward. He also told MTN News that any community members who want to help can call the church’s main office at (406) 752-6788.
By Maren Siu – MTN News
