STEVENSVILLE — Hundreds of firefighters head to St. Mary Peak each day as the Sharrott Creek Fire burns in the Bitterroot Valley.
Crews moving up the mountain have been passing by a little baked goods stand run by Stevensville resident Kriss Himes.
"When it hit, you could literally feel something in the air," shared Himes.
Up high on St. Mary Peak Road, Kriss Himes and family dog Buddy were in the Sharrott Creek Fire evacuation zone.
"All of us neighbors up here on the mountain chose to stay. So I knew I wasn't alone and I wouldn't have done this if it was just me up here," detailed Himes. She continued, "I have incredible neighbors and we all take care of each other."
Knowing she needed to do something to keep her mind off the fire above her house, Himes decided to start baking as a thank you to the crews risking their lives.
"I kind of was scared and lost and didn't know what to do. And so many people, it was hundreds up and down the mountain all day long. You know, we appreciate these folks so much for all their work. And, I'm like, I know how to bake," explained Himes.
It started with a few baskets of cookies on a stand outside her house but those were eaten instantly. "Then the word spread, I heard on their radios. And so then it grew to three baskets and then a table and then two tables and then two coolers," she shared.
Himes told MTN that she wakes up early to start baking.
"Filling up the baskets and the coolers in the mornings with cinnamon rolls and muffins and banana bars, jam bars, cookies, cupcakes."
The treats have not only been at her stand.
"I took goodies down to the crew that's doing the drone camera work and then measuring the heat on the fire. And I went over to the airport and took goodies over to the helicopter pilots," said Himes.
Neighbors pitched in to help fund the project and now there have been over 6,000 treats handed out all around the lines on the Sharrott Creek Fire.
"[Firefighters have] given me numerous handwritten thank you little notes on scratch paper that they find in the forest service trucks and it just means the world to me," shared Himes. "I had a gentleman stop a paramedic a few days ago and thanked me and he said, you know, he said every house that is impacted by this is assigned a number he told me except for yours. He said you're known as the cinnamon roll house," she added.
Himes loves caring for all the firefighters, however, she has one in particular that's always on her mind.
"I joke and say this is my honeymoon because my husband was on the Boulder Lake Fire. And then he got called to the Johnson Fire and he was able to come home just long enough for us to get married and then he had to turn around and leave," Himes explained. "We just went down to the courthouse. My mom and my best friend and my daughter and grandson were here and we're going to have an actual ceremony in the spring. He promised me that."
Until the last firefighter boots working on the mountain leave, Himes will be baking. "This kept me busy and gave me a purpose," she said.
