FROM: Ernie Misewicz DATE: January 17, 2007
For Immediate Release: North Pole, AK: On Tuesday evening about 10:30 PM a fire damaged a home located at 305
Nordale Road. The fire occurred in a storage area just outside an upper floor
bathroom. The fire / smoke activated the smoke detector alerting the family in
the home. Everyone escaped uninjured. Fire damage was confined to the bathroom area however smoke damage
was noted to the upper
floors of the home. Four engines and 12 volunteers from North Star Volunteer
Fire Department responded along with a mutual aid engine company from the
Steese Volunteer Fire Department and an engine company from the Ft. Wainwright
Fire Department. The Red Cross also responded to provide assistance to the
occupants displaced by the fire.
The home
involved was a two story home with a large loft. The bathroom was located in
the loft area just outside the bedroom. It appears there were lit candles in
the bathroom. At some time a child appears to have picked up one of the candles
from the bathroom and accidentally dropped it by the clothes.
Estimate
value on the home and contents is $340,000. Damage is estimated at $40,000. The
owners have insurance.
SAFETY NOTE: Candles are a part of our lives.
Please use caution with them. Never leave them lit when you leave a room or
area. Ensure they are in a sturdy base and never leave them in an area where a
child can get to them. Also check your smoke detector…it is a sound we all can
live with.