Fire destroys office, counter at Alpine

BONNERS FERRY — “We’re having a fire sale,” joked Alpine owner John Dvorsek as he swept up broken glass in the back of Alpine cleaners on July 8, just four days after a July 4 fire gutted the office and front counter and damaged the showroom of the Alpine Flooring section of the building.

Bonners Ferry fire trucks left a trail of streamers down the highway as they responded to the report of fire at 6378 Main St. at 4:15 on July 4.

The trucks and firefighters were preparing for the 5 p.m. Independence Day parade when they got the call, said fire chief Pat Warkentin.

“We had 14 firefighters on the scene, and we could have used a dozen more,” Warkentin said. “It was a really hot fire.”

EMS responders were on scene to monitor firefighters as they worked in shifts before resting in the shade to cool down from the effects of heavy gear and exposure to the blaze.

According to investigators, the fire started in the center of the building by spontaneous combustion in a basket full of freshly dried terry towels,

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like the bar rags used in many commercial kitchens.

Employees left around 11:30 a.m. after drying the towels in a commercial dryer and wheeling them to the counter for folding.

“This is fairly common in laundries,” said Warkentin. “You don’t know what the towels were used for.”

Often they have been used to clean up organic oils, Warkentin said. Linseed oil is the most common culprit but even castor oil and olive oil can lead to a chemical chain reaction that will burn the pile of towels from the inside out.

Firefighters worked for around four hours before they were sure the fire had been extinguished. The building has heavy smoke damage in the front section, but firefighters were able to cut a hole in the roof and flood the attic area before more than a few trusses were damaged.

“They saved our building,” said Alpine employee Raymond Jolley, who, along with wife and Alpine manager Becky Joyner has been hard at work cleaning up the place since the fire.

“We haven’t missed a beat,” said Jolley. “It took us three hours after the fire to decide we weren’t going to miss our mark.”

The couple began pulling laundry from the building and taking it home to clean the night of the fire. They were able to make a delivery to the Kootenai River Inn scheduled for the following morning by 7 p.m. Saturday and have been working out of their laundromat behind the damaged building since the fire.

“This is a family business. We even had our kids down here helping us,” Jolley said.

“We’re making lemonade out of lemons,” said Dvorsek as he lined up a pre-fabricated temporary building the company will use for an office between the fire-damaged building and laundromat. “At least no one was hurt.”

The Alpine trio was able to save some of the flooring products from the showroom, including carpeting to be used for the school district and the two foot square panels of commercial carpet they installed in the laundromat. They are excited about the product, which withstands wear very well. They can also replace single panels of carpeting damaged by laundry chemicals.

“My samples are toast,” said Dvorsek, “but I can still beat anyone’s prices on flooring. Just bring me in a sample of what you want.”

Insurance will pay for the damaged building and inventory, Dvorsek said. The undamaged back section of the building will be cleaned and sealed off while the front is repaired so the commercial laundry facilities can be put back in service. Meanwhile, dry-cleaning is being shipped to Sandpoint and machine washing is being done through the laundromat.

“Alpine will survive,” Jolley said. “We’re too tenacious to give up. I just wanted to thank all the firefighters and EMTs. It could have been a lot worse.”

Alpine is still available at 267-7397 and laundry and storage facilities remain undamaged. Customers can find them in the small cedar building with the lattice front next to the laundromat.