Fire Ravages Sapa-Johnsrud Baseball Stadium in Columbia Falls
The bleachers are a total loss while the baseball field and dugouts avoided damages
By Dillon Tabish
A fire has destroyed the grandstand at Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Field in Columbia Falls.
Fire officials are investigating the incident but initial reports have indicated that the blaze originated in a nearby grass field and was started by fireworks. The fire was reported late Monday night.
The bleachers, built in 1989 with the capacity to hold a few hundred people, are a total loss while the baseball field and dugouts avoided damages, according to Ray Queen, president and treasurer of Glacier Babe Ruth, the youth baseball organization that oversees multiple teams throughout the year that play at the stadium.
“It’s a total disaster,” Queen said. “It’s sad.”
Queen said the baseball organization did not have insurance for the stadium, which is on school trust land and leased through the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
“We’re going to really need some help here,” he said. “Back in 1989, the local community built it and a lot of materials were donated by Plum Creek and the (Columbia Falls Aluminum Company) plant.”
The two Glacier Babe Ruth all-star teams — the 14U and 15U squads — are in the thick of their season and will be able to finish out playing home games in Whitefish before the state tournaments next month. The last game played with the bleachers intact was Sunday.
“The stadium was part of the field. It was just a place that you can really come and enjoy watching baseball in the shade,” Queen said.
Glacier Babe Ruth started in 1981 as Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Bigfork formed one of the best Babe Ruth programs in the state. In its first three years of existence, the 15U Glacier Babe Ruth team appeared in the 1983 World Series in Frederick, Maryland.
Last year the 15U all-stars won the regional championship and advanced to the Babe Ruth World Series. The 13U team advanced to the World Series in 2014.
“There have been a lot of kids and generations who have played ball in that stadium. It was a landmark in this community,” Queen said. “To go there today, you’d shed a tear.”