GARDINER — Tim Fager said there was nothing anyone could do but watch as his three-car garage burned to the ground.
A fire truck sat less than a quarter-mile away on Blaze Trail on Tuesday.
It remained stuck in the heavy snow after it was unable to make one final push up the hill to Fager property at 91 Blaze Trail just after 8 p.m. Monday.
Thousands of dollars worth of tools, two brand new Jet Skis, a 1972 Plymouth Barracuda and 30 years worth of memories went up in flames as Fager, his wife, Cindy, and Fire District No. 5 workers watched helplessly.
“It was stuffed full of 30 years of our life,” Fager said, “and this is not the time to try and be replacing all the stuff that you own.
The Fagers estimate that more than $200,000 worth of items have been lost in the fire.
“I’m a general contractor, and all of my tools were in there.
“This is just about going to put me out of business.”
The Fagers have insurance, but are convinced that they will exceed the upper limit of their coverage.
“The good news is, we still have a home to go to,” Fager said.
“We still have a warm place to sleep, and a hot shower.
“It isn’t the worst that could have happened.”
The property is on a private road, said Jack Reed, Jefferson County roads operations manager, and would not have been snowplowed by county crews.
The house, which sits just feet away from the ruins of the garage, was spared from the fire, for the most part.
The siding on the house melted from the intensity of the blaze, but the home’s structure remains undamaged, Fager said.
“We did get lucky in that respect,” he said.
District No. 5 Fire Chief Bob Wilson said there was nothing he could have done to stop the fire.
“Fire trucks [from multiple districts] sat at the bottom of the hill,” Wilson said.
“The one we tried to get up there got stuck and that was it.”
The truck remained stuck in the snow as of Tuesday night.
Wilson said he won’t attempt to bring the truck down the hill until the snow thaws.
“We don’t want to get it stuck sideways on the road,” he said.
“Then no one would be able to get in or out.”
The Fagers live at the very top of Blaze Trail, about a mile up the hill from Highway 101 in Gardiner.
For most, the trip up the hill requires parking the car half-way and taking a hike, as the final ascent is particularly steep.
Wilson said a second fire truck is sitting in the district’s station, and if a need for an additional vehicle came about they would call in to Sequim’s Blyn station for assistance.
The Fagers said they knew when the fire started that it would likely end this way.
“When I called 9-1-1 I told them to hurry,” said Cindy Fager.
“Then I thought to myself, ‘If you can make it up here.'”
An investigation into the cause of the fire has not been completed, but Fager said he thinks he knows the answer.
Kerosene heater
“A kerosene heater that I run during the winter is the only thing I can think of,” Fager said.
“I’ve run a heater in there for the last 20 years to take the edge off, and nothing ever happened. And now this.”
The Fagers began sorting through the smoldering rubble on Tuesday morning.
Tim Fager pointed out some of the remnants of his construction work and childhood memories.
The jars his dad gave him to keep fasteners in are melted and broken. The drill bits are warped and bent. The ’72 Plymouth Cuda that he bought when he was 15 is now a burnt husk.
“That car is the reason we met,” Fager said to his wife. “Remember that?”
Fager said he will file insurance claims and buy some new tools but he isn’t too certain of the future.
He just knows he will try to keep his construction business going, and work his way out of any debt he incurs from the incident.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” he said.
“All I’ve ever done is work with my hands, so I’m just going to keep doing that.”
________
Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
