PALMER — A family of six lost their home in a fire Monday afternoon.

Raging winds and a bitter cold made fighting the blaze off Farm Loop Road even more difficult than usual for about 25 firefighters and emergency personnel who responded from four agencies.

“It makes it more difficult,” said Todd Russell, assistant fire chief with the Palmer Emergency Services.

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Russell said the wind was responsible for spreading embers as far as 500 feet away where a tree stump was ignited.

The occupants displaced by the fire are Norman and Linda West and four of their children.

Nancy Hall of the Mat-Su Valley Red Cross said it’s against Red Cross policy to identify victims. She said children’s ages are 18,16, 14 and 12.

“We were there to help, but they are getting a lot of support from their church,” Hall said. Plus, she said, the couple has other grown children in the area where they can stay.

The call came in at 12:23 p.m., said Jon Owen, head of Palmer’s fire and police departments.

Russell called the large two-story home on Hay Drive destroyed. Fire crews were still mopping up at 4 p.m. Two cats were rescued from the  home, but Russell didn’t know the fate of one of them. He said one was alive and taken to a veterinarian.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Linda West told Frontiersman photographer Robert DeBerry that one of the children may have started the fire with matches.

In addition to the Palmer fire and ambulance crews, other personnel arrived from Central Mat-Su and Butte fire departments.

Another family

hit by fire

The Red Cross came to the aid of a single mother and her three children when their two-story home burned to the ground outside of Palmer late Thursday night. The mother and the children ages 14, 12 and 10 returned home from visiting friends in Eagle River to find their home totally destroyed.

The Red Cross provided them with housing at a local motel for three nights. In addition, they received a financial allocation for clothing, seasonal garments, food, bedding and linens. The Red Cross will assist them with a rental deposit when needed. The Red Cross also provided them with a homemade quilt made by the inmates at the Hiland Mountain Women’s Correctional facility and personal hygiene comfort kits.

All Red Cross disaster assistance is free, a gift made possible by generous Alaskans. To help the affected families, and the more than 1,000 Alaskans devastated by disaster each year, please consider making a donation to the American Red Cross of Alaska. Easy ways to donate include:

• Make a secure online donation at www.alaska.redcross.org.

• Call 907-357-6060.

• Send a check to: American Red Cross, 931 W. Commercial Drive, Wasilla, AK 99654.

• Or visit your local Red Cross office located at 931 W. Commercial Drive, Wasilla.

For additional information, call Nancy Hall at 232-2698.