Both houses, the cabin and that house seem to be ok now, so we were extremely lucky, but it has been quite a few weeks for us."īoth the Varrin family and the Lapinskys say the Bozeman community’s generosity is overwhelming. In that fire we had a hotspot that came within a quarter mile of our house. We were completely evacuated from that one. "We were just repopulated in our house in the Santa Cruz Mountains a week ago. The Varrins have fled fires amid a global pandemic both in Montana and California this summer. They eventually found an AirBnB in Big Sky. There’s a chance a lot of other people grabbed hotel rooms for the night.” "It’s already tricky in Bozeman, especially over any normal weekend – but it was Labor Day weekend. Varrin says they couldn’t find one available room in Bozeman Saturday night. The family grabbed what they could and hustled out to find new living arrangements. The Varrins quickly learned they had 20 minutes to leave. It’s remarkable how fast and how furious that fire was up our canyon." "The smoke came in so fast, and that was only in an hour. When Varrin woke up, she couldn’t see the mountains. We did not hear our neighbor pounding on our door telling us to evacuate. "We laid down to take a nap, my husband and I in one room, my daughter in another. They returned home at about 2:30 in the afternoon. That morning the family could only see wisps of the Bridger Foothills Fire, so they decided to go for a mountain bike ride. Highs climbed to 95 degrees as the humidity was dropping and the wind was picking up. We have a cabin there," Michelle Varrin says. "We actually live at Bridger Bowl Ski Area. The Varrin family, a few miles west of the Lapinskys, also had a chaotic Saturday afternoon. The Bridger Foothills Fire threatened homes and forced evacuations near the fire, which started near the 'M trail' just northeast of Bozeman, MT. They hightailed it to Livingston, and would never see their family home again.Ĭredit inciweb People evacuating from Bridger Canyon, Sept. The Lapinskys collected some clothes, their computer and as much of their kids’ stuff as they could fit into their small car. We may not be home tonight,” Lapinsky says. "Seeing that smoke rolling over the top of the hill, I told my wife, ‘grab a bag. All was quiet until early Saturday afternoon: The couple spent a long, mostly sleepless night watching over their Bozeman home. Aric and his wife took the advice and sent their two children to spend the night at their grandmother’s house in Livingston. The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Department warned residents Friday evening to be prepared to evacuate just in case the new Bridger Foothills Fire worsened. I was raised in that house for many years, and we started our family up there just five years ago as well," Lapinsky says. They raised their kids there my father and aunts and uncles. "My grandparents actually had it built by family friends – the Harkins. The Lapinsky homestead was just off Bridger Canyon Drive and was one of 28 homes claimed Saturday by the Bridger Foothills Fire. It was very heartbreaking to see all of our family memories, me growing up as a child up there, too. "I was the first one on site to see the house. Aric Lapinsky will never forget what he saw. MTPR’s Edward O’Brien caught up with two evacuated families.īozeman’s Bridger Canyon evacuees were given one hour earlier this week to check on their homes and animals. Coming off Montana’s most active fire weekend of the summer, residents in Bridger Canyon are using the current break in the weather to reflect and regroup from the damage incurred, and avoided, from the Bridger Foothills Fire.
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