NORTH STAR FIRE NEWS
PRESS RELEASE
FROM: Jerry Hanson, Deputy Chief DATE: March 2, 2007
For Immediate Release: North Pole, Alaska.
Thursday afternoon, March 1, 2007,
just after 1:30 PM the North Star Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a
reported explosion and fire with at least one victim, at 1124 Paige Avenue off
of MP 356 of the Richardson Highway. Callers
were reporting a large explosion and fire with one woman injured. The cause of the explosion was unknown. The North Star Volunteer Fire Department
responded with three fire engines and when en route a large column of black
smoke was visible. A second alarm for a
working fire was requested as well as mutual aid assistance from the City of
Fairbanks and Fort Wainwright Fire Departments for tankers and engine
companies. It was unknown at the time
if all occupants were out of the building and two medic units from the North Pole
Fire Department were also dispatched to care for possible victims.
First arriving units reported a large
pile of debris burning very strongly with a large column of black and gray smoke. Also a female patient with burns and
lacerations had been moved away from the fire by neighbors that ran to the
scene to help, and placed in the back of a pickup truck parked nearby. The woman was conscious but incoherent. The building appeared to have been of average
size, approximately 1200 square feet; however the house had been completely obliterated
by the explosion with only a large pile of debris and a foundation where the
house used to be standing. There was
also debris, including whole wall sections, building insulation and household
goods, scattered over a wide area including up into the trees and into
neighbor’s yards. A vacuum cleaner had
been blown up into nearby trees and was hanging by a hose. Firefighters provided initial care for the
patient and pulled hand lines to extinguish the fire. The mutual aid request was changed to a tanker only from the City
of Fairbanks FD and the engine company from the Fort Wainwright FD was assigned
to move up to NSVFD Sta. 1 to help cover the district for additional
calls. Later an aerial platform was
requested from the City of Fairbanks FD to assist with the investigation.
Firefighters’ efforts to extinguish
the fire were hampered by large roof sections that had collapsed and fallen on
top of burning debris, a stationary 300 gallon propane tank nearby that had
been damaged by the force of the explosion and was venting liquid propane, and outside
temperatures of minus 25 degrees below zero.
After the sun went down temperatures dipped to minus 40 degrees below
zero. Debris was scattered in an area
covering over 200 feet in all directions.
Firefighters had the fire out by 4:30
PM, and remained on scene monitoring the propane leak until it was empty at
approximately 9 PM. A fire watch was
established through the night to maintain possession of the property pending the
completion of an investigation and to help prevent looting and anyone from
disturbing the debris field.
A check of neighboring houses by
firefighters revealed that many houses had wall hangings, etc., knocked off the
walls, and three houses had structural damage with one of those houses having
sustained serious damage to the interior walls as well. These houses had windows blown out, door
jambs wracked and twisted, one door blown off its hinges, and two houses had
visible damage to interior walls. One
house had a battery powered wall clock that had been knocked off the wall and
the hands had stopped at 1:28 PM.
The female patient was transported to
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital by North Pole Ambulance. There were no other victims or injuries from this incident. Damage to the incident house and contents is
estimated at $200,000. As noted above
there is also extensive damage to other houses in the area, however the total extent
of the damage had not been estimated at press time. The home is insured and family members are being cared for by
relatives in the local area. Firefighters
remained on scene through the night and cleared the scene after 2:30 PM on
Friday, March 2nd. The
specific cause of the explosion has not been determined yet and the incident
remains under investigation.
