Community rallies around local family weeks after blaze destroys business

SALMON — Weeks after a country store in Salmon was destroyed in a fire, the community is coming to the owner’s aid.

Baker Country Market, located about 9 miles southeast of Salmon, off Idaho Highway 28, caught fire on Feb. 21 around 7:30 p.m. Firefighters deemed it a total loss early the next morning.

Lemhi County Fire Protection District Chief Mike Warner told EastIdahoNews.com that embers from a nearby debris burn were the cause. They ignited a stack of pallets next to the building, and the flames quickly spread into the building.

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Although firefighters arrived within 10 minutes, the store was already engulfed and could not be salvaged. Warner estimates the total cost of damages was around $1.2 million.

Paul Miller owned the store with his family. In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, he says watching the business he started 10 years ago burn to the ground was a devastating blow.

“It does something to a person to be needy,” Miller says. “I don’t know exactly how to say it.”

Dozens of people showed up about 7 a.m. the day after the fire (Monday) to help clean up. Miller says at least 20 people were there, and some brought excavators, skid steers and dump trailers to aid in the effort. Many others called to express condolences and offer assistance.

“We could’ve had people running over each other. We had so many more offers,” says Miller. “The emotional support, more than anything, has meant a lot.”

RELATED | Country store near Salmon destroyed in Saturday night fire

Miller says everything was cleaned up by Monday at 3 p.m.

Since then, multiple people have chipped in to raise funds to help rebuild the store. An account was set up at Frontier Credit Union in Salmon.

As of Saturday afternoon, neighbors were onsite digging footers so they can pour concrete on Monday for the new foundation.

Miller says he’s overwhelmed by the show of support.

“We are humbled and blessed by the response of the community,” he says. “We didn’t know we had so many friends, and we’re just grateful for the community we live in.”

Moving to Salmon and making connections

Miller and his wife, Maria, moved to the area from Pennsylvania in 2014. They were looking for a small community to be a part of. The Millers are Amish, and Paul says Salmon was appealing because there were several other Amish families in the area.

Miller grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania and had a roadside produce stand. That experience prompted him to open a similar business in Salmon.

“I love connection with my neighbors and, more than anything, wanted to be able to work with my family,” Miller says.

Baker Country Market opened in 2015 and was known for its Amish-style goods, including fresh-baked breads and pastries, homemade butter, bulk foods, jams, pickles, cheeses and other specialty groceries.

“We were known for our fried pies,” says Miller.

They made many of the products themselves, the owner says, and enjoyed interacting with locals.

Tracy Krekeler lives down the road from where the Millers’ store stood. She says the store was a destination for people outside the area. Steelhead fisherman and others enjoyed stopping to buy goodies.

Krekeler has helped drive the Millers around — Amish people don’t drive cars — over the last several years. She says they are wonderful people, and it’s been “a blessing to get to know them.”

She says the Millers aren’t used to being on the receiving end, and the community outreach is hard for them to process.

“It’s been a blessing to help them through this in whatever manner I can,” Krekeler says. “They’re very special people.”

Miller says it won’t take long to build the outside structure of the new store. Rebuilding the inside will take a bit longer, but he’s looking forward to getting back to work as soon as possible.

Miller has few words as he thinks about all that the community has done for him and his family.

“We’ve been humbled and blessed at the same time. I really don’t know what else to say,” he says.

Those who’d like to donate to the rebuild effort can make a deposit to the Salmon River Amish Church account at Frontier Credit Union, 777 Shoup Street in Salmon.