Crews halt fire at Sagle home

SAGLE — Author and conservative talk show host Mark Fuhrman escaped injury early Tuesday morning after fire broke out in his home’s crawl space.

“We believe that it was probably electrical,” Sagle Fire District Chief Rob Goodyear said.

Goodyear said a trail of heavy charring led to an electrical switch used to activate a well pump. Most of the fire damage was confined to the crawl space, although it destroyed joists supporting the home’s first floor.

“The structure is going to be salvageable,” said Goodyear, who estimated the blaze caused approximately $150,000 in damage.

Goodyear credits smoke detectors with getting Fuhrman and another individual out of the home safely.

Firefighters were summoned to Fuhrman’s Dufort-area home at about 1:24 a.m. Goodyear said the fire was showing in the home’s sub area and smoke was proliferating throughout the two-story structure.

Fourteen firefighters from Sagle and the Sandpoint Fire Department, in addition to three engines and two water tenders responded to the fire. One firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to Bonner General Hospital by Bonner County EMS. She was treated and released, Goodyear said.

“It was a good stop by the crews,” he said.