By Jasz Garrett
Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – At about 11:21 p.m. Tuesday night, Capital City Fire Rescue responded to a confirmed trailer fire at Thunder Mountain trailer court.
All occupants and pets of the trailer were out on CCFR’s arrival with no injuries. All firefighters were able to go home safely afterward.
Chief Rich Etheridge gave more details on the fire department’s response.
“The owner and his dogs had to escape out a window out of the back of the house. There was quite a bit of fire that was impinging on the trailer next to it and the power lines behind the trailer,” he said. “The crews were able to get the fire out before it actually spread to those. The trailer’s a total loss. The floors are burned through and the occupants were working on alternative locations to stay after last night.”
He reminded the public to have quick exit options in the event of a fire.
“At this time of year, making sure you have two ways out of your homes,” Chief Etheridge said. “So, we get snow built up on some of our backdoors that we don’t use very frequently and that can hamper your ability to escape out of a structure.”
Assistant Chief Ed Quinto was the first to arrive on the scene Tuesday night. He said when he arrived, the trailer was fully engulfed in fire.
“I met one of the occupants on the street and he stated that he was out and nobody else was in the building. All pets were out of this trailer. It was reported that there was some pets trapped. So, he had control of his pets on the street,” Assistant Chief Quinto said. “So, it was confirmed that not only everybody was out of that building but adjacent to the fire, that trailer, everybody was also out.”
There was a possibility of fire extension to the two adjacent trailers which CCFR stopped with hose lines in place. They knocked the fire down before it ignited the next-door trailer, but the next-door neighbors still sustained some damage, Quinto said.
“One trailer has some broken windows from the flames and heat,” he said. “The engine crew, after the fire, went back there and covered it up with some Visqueen and wood so the occupants of that trailer could stay there that evening.”
There were loud noises heard in the Mendenhall Valley at the time of the fire. That was because there was ammunition that was going off inside. This changed how the fire department attacked the flames.
“We want to make sure our firefighters are safe. So, we elected to put the fire out from the outside,” he said. “We did all our exterior attacks from outside and finally contained the fire.”
The fire department was on the scene for approximately two hours.
CCFR continues to investigate the cause of the fire as of Wednesday morning.
Assistant Chief Quinto added that it’s not safe to go back inside a residence in the hopes of retrieving pets or prized possessions.
“It’s not always a good idea to go back in because you can get trapped and get hurt or worse things,” he said. “But I understand sometimes you gotta rescue your pet so it’s up to them. But we advise people not to go back in.”
It was also advised to make sure smoke alarms are operating properly this winter.
The residents did have insurance, Quinto said, so he hopes that can help them with their loss. The Red Cross was working on options to shelter them Tuesday night.
