Bear Paw VFD ready to start work on new fire hall

The Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department has made great strides in their recent efforts to raise money to set up a new fire hall in the Havre area, which their fire chief and board members say will improve operations, save them money on equipment repairs and significantly improve morale.

In addition to the personal donations they’ve received since September of last year the department has seen multi-thousand dollar donations from CHS Big Sky, Tilleman Motor Co. and Tilleman Equipment as well as the Havre Lions Club. They’ve also recieved smaller donations from Guild Mortgage and other contributors.

Fire Chief Josh Bebee said they also had great attendance at their dollar-a-drink fundraising event at Crawford Distillery in November, making $14,000 between the event itself and the silent auction and raffle they held there.

Between all of this, he said, the department has enough money to begin pouring concrete for the building and getting it upright, but they need to wait for the weather to break before work can begin, and they are still looking for some more funds to get the building fully operational.

Bebee said he is talking to some people who have expressed an interest in donating to the cause, but nothing is finalized and he doesn’t know how much the donations would be for yet.

He said the department is also working on setting up other fundraising events for the summer and fall.

The the primary utility of the fire hall the department is raising funds for would be to store vehicles and equipment during the winter, making sure they aren’t damaged by the elements, something that is difficult for the department at the moment, he said in an interview in September.

He said the department has vehicles scattered across their coverage area, which means they’re response times are excellent, but in the winter it’s difficult to find places to store the vehicles properly, which inevitably leads to breakages and malfunctions that cost the department time and money.

“It never fails. We get calls in the winter and then you’re scrambling,” Bebee said.

The building itself has already been ordered from Clausen and Sons and the materials are being stored away from the site, obtained in a deal with Clyde R. Thomas.

The site also still needs to have an approach built, but, Bebee said, Schellinger Construction recently donated 8 semi loads of millings to help with that.

Bebee said the speed with which this project has been funded is, in itself, a morale boost for the department and he’s happy about how well things have gone so far.

“I’m quite amazed,” he said. “ ... I’m impressed with how far along we’ve come since we purchased the building last January.”

Bebee said in September the efforts to get a fire hall for the department have been going on for more than a decade, essentially starting with former Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Giles Gregoire, who left the department thousands of dollars when he died.

Brad Gregoire, Giles Gregoire’s grandson and Bear PawVolunteer Fire Department treasurer. said that money was put into a fund to accrue interest as the department pursued other ways of funding the project.

“He always wanted to have a fire hall,” Gregoire said.

Bebee said the building will be a massive help to his department, allowing the department not just to store equipment, but also to centralize a substantial amount of their activities.

“It’ll keep everything in better conditions, we’ll be able to hold meetings a little bit easier, do trainings ... store tools,” he said.

Bebee said he the department is very happy about this new fire hall and its construction.

“Everybody is excited for this. Everybody,” he said. “They can’t wait.”