The Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire at the Nugget Trailer Court early Friday morning. There were no reported injuries.
Fire Chief Jordan Buness said when his crew arrived at 1:04 am, the flames engulfed a trailer. It took about nine minutes from the initial dispatch call to the time the first fire engine arrived on scene.
“The homeowner reported that it originated near the wood stove, and he had just delivered a fresh trailer load of wood that was stored underneath the carport, basically right behind the wood stove, so he had to have a very heavy fuel load; nice dry fire wood,” he said.
Seventeen volunteer firefighters and two fire engines responded to the blaze. A squad van, a tanker and an ambulance also assisted.
Fire burned for up to an hour and a half
They did not need to use the tanker as they had access to two hydrants near the trailer. One on Zimovia Highway and the other on the corner of Phillips and Graves Street.
He said the fire burned for about an hour to an hour and a half and the crew was on scene just shy of four hours total.
A few hours later, at 8:10 am, they accessed hotspots underneath the trailer.
“We knew that there was still some smoldering underneath the trailer when we left at almost five o’clock this morning, and we made the decision to come back and get all our equipment back, thawed out again, and get everybody some clean, dry clothes,” Buness said. “Then we went back out there shortly after daylight.”
Buness said the trailer downside of the fire was not occupied at the time, but one window was damaged as well as paint discoloration.
“We knew that there was still some smoldering underneath the trailer”
The neighboring trailer uphill was occupied, but the family was able to evacuate safely early on. Their trailer sustained damage with a few broken windows and some of the plastic railing on the deck melted.
A small amount of fire was burning in the attached chicken coop when the firefighters arrived, but no chickens were in there.
Buness said he’s working on a report that will be submitted to the state of Alaska.
