NOXON — The Hereford Bar and Grill in Noxon burned to the ground on December 15, 2020, leaving the owners who bought the restaurant just several months prior devastated.
The community staple was being rebuilt one section at a time when four years later — on January 17, 2024 — the Hereford burned again.
"This was our baby, we loved it,” said Hereford Bar and Grill owner Kim Syth.
Pete Kobilansky and Kim Syth may live Sandpoint, Idaho, but their dream business was in Noxon, Montana.
"Loved the old Hereford, loved the old stories, and loved the new Hereford,” Kobilansky said. Everybody loved the Hereford."
It's been a Noxon staple since the 1950s.
Pete and Kim became the owners of the Hereford in May of 2020, but only months later, the bar and grill would burn down — forcing them to rebuild.
“We spent hours upon hours redoing and rebuilding it to get it to where it was today — or before the fire," Kobilansky recalled.
After the first fire, Kobilnsky and Syth had one year to rebuild to save their liquor license.
While the goal was to reopen the building at once, due to delays with construction, the bar opened once again on the one-year anniversary of the first fire.
“So we were only able to open part of the building to get the bar open so that just put the rest of the building on hold for a while and it made it tough to finish so we just went step by step and finishing as we went,” Kobilnsky said.
The bar was the community's gathering place where people learned to dance or just get together to have a drink with their neighbors.
The restaurant was almost finished when tragedy struck on January 17 — a second fire.
"It means a lot to this whole community. And just to see it go was just heartbreaking. And the new one — our whole family worked on it. You can see it's just completely gone,” Kobilansky said.
But now as the second fire has destroyed the building that once stood, Kim and Pete have more questions than answers.
It’s still unclear how the fire that destroyed the livelihood of Kim and Pete’s family began.
"We have no clue,” Syth said.
“We haven't heard anything from the fire marshal that did a walk around and I don't know what she came up with. We reached out but haven't heard anything back yet,” Kobilnsky said.
But while the investigation continues, the heartbreak lingers for the owners.
"I wake up several times every night and think this can’t be happening. Not again,” Syth said.
Syth says the family plans to rebuild — again.
“The Hereford can’t die with us. No way. We’re going to do our best to come back."
