HARLEM, Mont. — A fire destroyed two longtime buildings along Main Street in downtown Harlem Sunday night, drawing firefighters from across the Hi-Line and requiring hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to contain.
The former Don’s Pharmacy and Grand Theatre buildings are considered total losses. Both had been vacant and unoccupied for years, and no injuries were reported.
WATCH: FIRE DESTROYS BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN HARLEM
Harlem Fire Chief Reece Scheffelmaer said firefighters were paged around 7 p.m. and arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the former theater.
Crews connected pumpers to hydrants at both ends of the street and attacked the fire from outside because the aging structure was too dangerous to enter.
“The floor’s unstable. It’s a 100-year-old building,” Scheffelmaer said. “It’s not worth any of our guys’ lives to go into.”
Firefighters from Chinook, Hogeland-Turner, Fort Belknap and Havre joined the Harlem Fire Department. The North Harlem Colony and Blaine County Road Department also assisted.
Scheffelmaer said crews used four hydrants, water tenders and water drawn from the city pool during the response. The city estimated firefighters pumped between 300,000 and 400,000 gallons of water onto the fire over roughly eight hours.
“The four departments in Blaine County actually work very well together,” Scheffelmaer said. “If we know something bad is going on, we’ll automatically just jump in our trucks and go.”
The response helped prevent the fire from reaching occupied buildings and nearby businesses, including Schmuker’s Pizza.
Owner Dusty Schumacher said he learned about the fire around 7 p.m., when messages and phone calls began pouring in from concerned community members.
Schumacher and others placed a sprinkler on the restaurant’s roof to knock down sparks as they watched the fire burn nearby.
“It was very scary. It’s our livelihood,” Schumacher said. “Whether you’ve got insurance or anything, if it’s gone, it’s going to take a minute to recover from.”
Although the buildings destroyed by the fire had sat empty for years, Schumacher said they remained a recognizable part of downtown Harlem. He and his wife attended the final movie shown at the former theater.
“You always hope that something can be done with them,” Schumacher said. “It’s going to leave a big hole here on Main Street for quite a while.”
Firefighters remained at the scene Monday monitoring hot spots that were difficult to reach because of the unstable structure. Once the site is considered safe, it will be turned over to the city and property owners for cleanup.
The cause of the fire remains undetermined pending an investigation from law enforcement.
