Kalispell Apartment Fire, Massive Windstorm Outages & Ronan Court Case

Host Taylor Inman breaks down the biggest stories impacting communities across the Flathead Valley and Northwest Montana. Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze at the Courtyard Apartments near Kalispell’s Airport Road, preventing serious injuries while several residents were evaluated for smoke inhalation.

Meanwhile, thousands of residents across Lincoln and Flathead counties were left without power after a severe windstorm swept through the region, knocking down trees, closing schools and forcing travel restrictions as crews worked to restore electricity.

The episode also examines a court development in Lake County, where a Ronan man entered an Alford plea in a case involving allegations of abuse of a vulnerable person.

Additional stories include coverage of a Democratic congressional forum held in Whitefish as candidates compete to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, a proposed Kalispell policy change that could eliminate public hearings for subdivision proposals, and new logging activity tied to the Frozen Moose Project in the North Fork area of the Flathead National Forest.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Hello and welcome to News Now. I'm your host, Taylor Edman. We're going over the week's biggest headlines for Northwest Montana. Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze at an airport road apartment complex in Calisbell early Wednesday afternoon. Callspell Fire Chief Jay Hagen said the call for a structure fire at the courtyard apartments complex came in at about 118 p.m. on March 11th. Crews from the Calisbell, South Calisbell, and Evergreen Fire Departments converged on the cluster of squat buildings across the street from the Calisbell Municipal Airport to find heavy black smoke pouring from a first floor apartment, according to Hagen. Hagen said they got there pretty quickly and were able to put water on the fire with the right amount of resources. The fire was deemed out by 1.26 p.m. Crews remained on scene, mopping up shortly after 2 p.m. Hagen said three people were evaluated for smoke inhalation, but all three declined transportation to a medical facility. He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Neighbor Ken Salois heard a call come in over the scanner and then heard the wail of approaching emergency vehicles. He said, quote, I heard all of these sirens come in and I'm trying to figure out, okay, what's going on. And then in the apartments over there on the south side, I saw smoke coming out of the apartment and saw the manager running. End quote. Saloys watched as firefighters first tried to break down a door before smashing through a window. Hagen said the cost of the damage remains unknown, but the kitchen of the apartment where the blaze originated will likely need remodeling. Officials contacted the American Red Cross on behalf of several residents, but Hagen expected that most of the inhabitants of the two-story building on the south end of the complex would be able to return home. Hagen said about 15 personnel were involved in dowsing the blaze. Kalispell sent an engine in a ladder track to the scene while Evergreen dispatched an engine and South Kalispel furnished a second command vehicle. Hagen said vehicles from other area agencies were en route when crews got the blaze under control. Other than the wind, the roar of chainsaws cleaning up fallen and damaged trees was the predominant sound in South Lincoln County on Thursday morning following a severe windstorm. School classes were canceled for Libby and Troy Public Schools as well as Kootenie Christian School and the Libby campus of Flathead Valley Community College. Lincoln County officials issued a travel restriction early on Thursday morning, asking citizens to avoid driving on area roads unless it was necessary. But that was lifted by 1138 a.m. Officials still asked for patients with power, road, and emergency crews that are dealing with power outages, as well as trees and power lines in the roads. The Montana Department of Transportation reported a number of downed trees and power lines on US 2 and highways 56 and 200 in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday. Thursday storm followed difficult road conditions after snow on Tuesday that left area roads slushy and icy. One accident was reported on Tuesday on Highway 37 near the Libby Dam, but no injuries were reported. Thousands of homes were without power after the storm swept through in the early hours of Thursday. It's the second windstorm Northwest Montana has endured in the last three months. A massive windstorm the week before Christmas 2025 also left thousands without power, some for nearly a week. According to the Flathead Electric Outage Map, nearly 2,700 locations in Lincoln County were without power as of 1130 a.m. on Thursday. In Flathead County, the total was approximately 1,100. 41-year-old Eddie Robert Cohen of Ronan entered an Alfred plea in district court in Pulson on March 4th to abuse of a vulnerable person. In an Alfred plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes the case based on the state's evidence. Cohen and 66-year-old Donna Rochelle Vincent Cohen were each accused of the abuse. The plea agreement for Eddie Cohen comes with a joint recommendation of five years with the Montana Department of Corrections with all but time served suspended. The judge is not bound by the agreement. According to court records, on June 12, 2025, the aunt of the alleged victim contacted law enforcement regarding her mentally disabled niece, identified only by the initials S.K. The aunt indicated that S.K. wanted to speak with the police. Sergeant Brandon Smith with the Ronan Police Department learned that S.K. had escaped her home on Dayton Street, Southwest, and fled to St. Luke Hospital, where she was waiting for the police. S.K. told Sergeant Smith that she was terrified of the Cohen's and did not want to return home due to allegations of abuse. She also indicated that Eddie Cohen threatened her with a shovel and that he held her to the ground by the throat and that she couldn't breathe. She described other forms of alleged abuse which included being assaulted with a belt and having her finger bent backwards. She also explained her fear of clowns and said that Eddie Cohen wore a clown mask to frighten her. A witness in the home corroborated S.K.'s story. Judge Molly Owen set sentencing for Eddie Cohen on April 9th. The case against Vincent Cohen is pending with a trial set for June 9th. Democratic candidates from Montana's Western Congressional District took center stage at Whitefish Performing Arts Center on Monday night. Hosted by the Beer, Buds, and Big Sky podcast, the forum featured candidates Ryan Bussey, Rest Cleveland, Sam Forstagg, and Matt Raines, and drew an audience of about 300 people. Themes of wealth disparity and affordability dominated the conversation as each of the Congressional Hopefuls pitched themselves as opposing Washington, D.C.'s political elites. The candidates highlighted rising housing costs, plateauing wages, and recent cuts to federal social services as proof of a widening affordability crisis. They expressed support for reforms that increased tax rates and close financial loopholes for those in higher income brackets, and advocated for more social services like universal health care and childcare. Money proved a more divisive topic when it came to campaign financing. While Bussey, Cleveland, and Forestag all reiterated pledges to forego contributions from corporate-backed political action committees, Reigns said he planned to take a different approach to fundraising. He said to win, they have to use, quote, the rules on the table and would do whatever it takes to make sure they win the race. Pressed about his stance on the Montana plan, an initiative to ban corporate spending in Montana elections that will likely appear on the 2026 ballot, Reigns wavered further, telling moderators that he generally favored campaign spending limits but needed to know more about the Montana plan's implementation before he fully endorsed it. The other three candidates expressed full support for the initiative. All four candidates expressed disapproval of the war in Iran and the handling of the Epstein files. They pledged to resist any efforts to privatize public lands. The forum ended with talk of mutual support among the candidates as they seek to flip a seat held by outgoing Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke. The race is considered the most competitive federal race in the state, making it Democrats' best shot at representation in the coming congressional cycle. Read more election coverage at dailyinterlake.com. The Cowliswell Planning Commission on Tuesday night backed changes to subdivision regulations that would scrap public hearings on site-specific projects. Commission President Chad Graham was the only member to vote against overhauling the public comment process, required under a 2023 state law designed to streamline housing construction. He said the forums, which can draw large crowds when controversial subdivision proposals come forward, are quote where everything starts and where things get hashed out. If Calisbell City Council approves the new regulations in May, subdivision projects will skip public hearings before the Planning Commission and Council and instead be approved administratively. Annexations and zoning changes will still go through a public process. Residents will only get to provide written comment during a 15 business day window that opens after city planning staff publishes its initial determination in a local newspaper and alerts property owners within 150 feet of the project. The original bill didn't include any public comment period, but the state legislature added one in 2024, according to Assistant Development Services Director PJ Sorensen. Graham expressed concern that the notification still won't adequately reach the public. After the public comment period ends, planning staff would assess any input and issue a decision on the proposed project within 20 days. Residents can still appeal the decision to planning staff, the planning commission, council, or even the Flahead County District Court. The provision of the law repealing public hearings is the subject of a lawsuit and remains under review by the state Supreme Court. But the updates must still be made to comply with the state's May deadline, according to Sorensen. Sorensen called the updates the third and most controversial piece of the Montana Land Use Planning Act. The law requires ten cities, including Calisbell, Whitefish, and Columbia Falls, to also adopt a new land use plan and new zoning regulations that promote higher density development. If you're traveling up the North Fork, except to see logging trucks on the road. The Flathead National Forest has sold timber sales as part of the Frozen Moose Project, which has been in the works for about five years now and has multiple units in the area. All told, there's about 2,300 acres of timber sales, which amounts to 14.4 million board feet of timber, according to Hungry Horse Glacier View District Ranger Rob Davies, who spoke at a North Fork interlocal meeting last month. He said people will be seeing a lot of law calling there over the next few years. Davies added that one blown down area from December's windstorm will also likely be sold. It's about 125 acres up Whale Creek Road. Folks are also encouraged to cut down trees along Forest Service roads for firewood as long as it's on public land. The trails in the North Fork are also expected to be a rough go, at least in the early season. The December windstorms were region wide and numerous trees are down on just about every trail in the forest. The North Fork Trails Association did about 25% more cleaning than usual last year due to Forest Service staff cuts, and will likely be doing as much this year as well, according to Trails Association president Bill Walker. The association is comprised of all locals who pitch in with saws to clear trails in the North Fork outside of Glacier National Park. Thanks for joining us. News Now is a podcast from the Daily Interlake. We're proud to be the largest independent newsroom in Montana and the longest continuously published newspaper in the region. Today's stories were written by Daily Interlake News editor Derek Perkins, Daily Interlake reporters Haley Smalley and Jack Underhill, Hungry Horse News Editor Chris Peterson, Western News editor Scott Schindeldecker, and Jeff Smith with the Lake County Leader. You can read the full versions of these stories at dailyinterlake.com, and if you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode of The Pod. Everybody stay safe and have a great week.