Remember When?

50 YEARS AGO • OCTOBER 17, 1974

FAULTY WIRE IGNITES CAFE FIRE

An electrical short is believed to have burned a hole in a propane line and ignited the blaze which destroyed TJ’s Cafe early Friday morning on Main Street.

Fire Chief Charles Applegate said Monday a deputy state fire marshal found a piece of romex wire which had been burned in two adjacent to the gas line during an inspection of the basement of the cafe building Monday.

Applegate said the fire marshal surmised that the wire had been strung across the gas line and that it had become worn from vibration and that sometime early Friday morning the wire sparked or arced, burning a hole into the gas line. At the same time the gas was ignited.

Applegate said the firemen turned off the gas at the propane tank as soon as they arrived at the scene, but by then the fire had burned through the floor, up the wall behind the rear booth in the main cafe and into the attic.

Firemen battled the blaze for about four hours before they finally succeeded in bringing it under control. At only one point did the flames erupt into the open - in the roof above the point where the conflagration is believed to have started.

Because the fire was smoldering in the attic above a false ceiling, firemen were unable to reach the flames. Dense smoke poured from the building throughout their efforts.

The fire was discovered shortly after 3 a.m. by Jock Repp and his son, Jim, who were working in their adjacent tavern and smelled smoke. As the smoke odor increased, Jock went outside and looked into the cafe and found it filled with smoke. He then turned in the alarm.

Three persons residing above the Pastime evacuated their apartments and Ron Calvert removed some of the key records from Montana State Employment Service office located in a frame building directly behind the building.

The cafe was purchased by Jay and Teresa Foster last summer from Mr. and Mrs. Greg Weaver. They leased the building from Mrs. Edna Lovhaug of Spokane, who with her husband started the cafe in the 1940s.

Foster said Monday he hoped to reopen a cafe in the same location as soon as arrangements can be made to erect a new building.

He said the cafe equipment was covered by insurance and he understood Mrs. Lovhaug had insurance coverage on the building.

Most of the damage to the kitchen resulted from smoke and water.

Foster said because of slow business, employees had cleaned the cafe, scrubbed the carpet and closed about 1:30 a.m. after preparing for Friday morning’s opening.

Note: This cafe was known as Norm’s Cafe, then Weaver’s Cafe. After the fire Sue Manley rebuilt it as a real estate office and it has been many things since then. It is located on the corner of Mill Street and Main Street.

40 YEARS AGO • NOVEMBER 22, 1984

LEDGER LINES by K.A.E.

Over the years we’ve heard stories about the numerous characters to parade across the pages of Thompson Falls history and some of the incidents are really enjoyable.

Rich Wollaston, a man whose friends say has “been here always,” has related some stories about some of the early residents.

He recalls that Pete Preston was noted for many years as an umpire for summer baseball games. In the days when the people were less motorized, sound carried farther in the quiet atmosphere of a Sunday afternoon.

Pete practiced his umpiring while standing behind the pitcher. Every time he called a strike, his resonant voice would ring out across the town, “S T R I K E.”

And when he called a third strike on a batter, his call always was, “I T’S A B E A U T Y.”

In his later years, Pete was famous for his observations while sitting in Norm’s Cafe (the same cafe mentioned in the above article). Often, Pete would speak loudly so some newcomer or tourist in the cafe could obviously overhear him.

One time, as he was reading the daily paper, he proclaimed loudly, “Oh my God! They shot Eisenhower!”

Then Pete threw down the paper and rushed out of the cafe. A tourist rushed over, picked up the paper and looked at every page to see the story about Ike’s assassination. Of course, there was no story.

Pete worked as the projectionist for the Rex Theater. Harold Jensen recalls that he could always depend on Pete being on time, although a couple of times he showed up only a few seconds before the show was to start and had to be helped up the steps to the projection room.