A house fire erupted near Wrangell Monday afternoon, approximately 8.2 miles south of town on Zimovia Highway.
Tuesday morning, one lane of the highway was intermittently open while fire crews put out hot spots and cleaned up the area.
Fire Chief Jordan Buness said U.S. Forest Service personnel spotted the fire while driving by and alerted the two downstairs tenants. They escaped with their dogs.
Resident stranded on second story deck
He said when the upstairs resident, Bruce Levine, returned home the fire was already underway.
“When he pulled up to the house… he tried to go up onto his second story porch to try to locate his dogs,” Buness said. “When he opened the door, the fire rolled out of the door and blocked his escape path downstairs.”
Buness said Levine was stranded on the second story deck due to a blocked stairwell. Fire crews deployed two ladders for rescue with the help of the local Forest Service law enforcement officer and a couple bystanders.
He said, “There was two dogs that were confirmed to still be upstairs… and two cats downstairs that did not appear to make it out of the fire.”
Buness said the department had 23 personnel on scene, with three engines, two ambulances, a rescue rig, tanker and squad van. They were dispatched at 3:37 p.m. and the first fire engine arrived on scene 12 minutes later with five crew members.
“Off the hydrant system, you start having to…shuttle water.”
He said the cause of the fire is unknown and still under investigation.
He said the fire department preemptively contacted Public Works for additional support with the Public Works water tanker.
“When you get off of the hydrant system, you start having to do what we call shuttle water,” Buness said.
The state Department of Transportation Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting truck also came out and assisted with extra water capacity.
Interconnected smoke detectors useful for multi-family housing
He said the crews were able to disconnect a household-sized propane tank and move it away from the fire.
He said the house was approximately 2,000 square feet and had an elevated bedroom, making it effectively three stories. When fire crews arrived, all of the first floor and third floor were burning. Other damage includes a compromised main floor and a collapsed roof, making it uninhabitable. The apartment downstairs received water damage with some fire involvement in the master bedroom.
He said having interconnected smoke detectors is important to alert all occupants in the building. It could provide people with enough time to self-rescue.
Bruce Levine shared on his Facebook page that he suffered burns on 10% of his face and hands while attempting to save his dogs. KSTK reached out to Levine but has not heard back.
A GoFundMe is set up for him. A link is available on our website at KSTK.org.
