8 responders treated after Maud Road fire

BUTTE — The state fire marshal is investigating an early morning fire in an airplane hangar off Maud Road that sent eight emergency responders to the hospital.

Otto Feather, the deputy director for firefighting of the Mat-Su Borough’s Department of Emergency Services said that eight responders suffered from smoke inhalation.

“In the initial crew to go in and make entry, a couple of the responders were feeling the effects of smoke inhalation, so we got them out,” Feather said. “The team that helped get them out, they started to feel the effects as well.”

That accounts for seven of the eight. The last one was a medic who was helping evaluate those seven.

“They were taken to Mat-Su Regional (Medical Center)," Feather said. "In one case, one of the medics was actually providing support to the others, and when he got there he started feeling a little queasy."

Four of the firefighters are with the Palmer Fire Department, the other three are from the Butte Fire Department.

The fire, located at 17901 E. Maud Rd., was reported at 2 a.m. in a hangar Feather estimated to be about 65 feet by 65 feet. He said that when responders first arrived, all they saw was smoke. So they went in to try to salvage what they could. When they started to feel the effects of the smoke, a team was activated to go in and get them out.

“The safety of our first responders is our first priority, and we're thankful for the quick action by our medics and the Mat-Su Regional Hospital,” Palmer Fire Chief John McNutt, who served as incident commander on the fire, said in a joint city of Palmer/Mat-Su Borough press release about the incident.

Feather agreed that firefighters are trained to play it safe.

“It is out of an abundance of caution that we got them out of there,” he said.

Feather did not have a definitive answer about why firefighters suffered such ill effects from the blaze. But he did say some strong fumes were created by the fire, which charred insulation. Of the three planes that burned, two were fabric-covered. The chemicals used for those kinds of planes -- "aircraft dope," it's called -- is potent stuff, Feather said.

“They call it that for a reason. It makes you dopey if you breathe too much of it when you’re applying it,” he said.

As of the time he spoke, shortly before 2 p.m., Tuesday, all eight responders had been evaluated and seven had been released. Feather said that the eighth firefighter would be staying overnight.

“The prognosis is good,” Feather said.

As for the three airplanes that burned in the fire, Feather said that when dealing with aviation and the great lengths to which people will go to salvage an airplane, it can be pretty tough to say whether they were completely destroyed.

“Everything in there is charred and black,” he said, but “salvage-ability is in the eye of the beholder.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.