Arson suspected in blaze; second suspicious fire in a week

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers and fire officials are saying a house that burned Saturday could be an act of arson.

Citing the ongoing nature of the investigation, Central Mat-Su Assistant Fire Chief Michael Keenan said he couldn’t speak to what makes officials think the fire was suspicious.

“The troopers got there first and they saw stuff that was suspicious and pointed it out to us,” he said.

The home, on Totem and Little Susitna drives, was called in shortly before 5 a.m. Keenan said crews arrived on scene in short order but hadn’t been able to confirm if anyone was inside.

“We had a rapid response from our duty crew. We got the fire knocked down real quick,” Keenan said. “Just a couple of rooms were gutted and then smoke and heat throughout.”

He described it as a “good stop” saying that when crews arrived on scene all they saw was smoke.

“It flashed over just as our crew was getting ready to go in. We had fire blowing out both the front and the back of building,” he said.

All-told, crews were on scene until about 8 a.m. He said the first firefighters on scene were part of a system the department put in place last year to have firefighters staying overnight at the station waiting for calls to come in.

The fire was the second suspicious blaze in a week. The first was called in at about 12:30 a.m. March 29 at the site of former daycare on Leatherleaf Loop and Bogard Road.

The daycare building had already been the site of a suspicious fire that torched the facility in 2006. The first fire destroyed about half the building, Keenan said last week. The second fire destroyed half of what was left.

Troopers and Central’s own in-house fire marshals are investigating both of last week’s suspicious fires. Anyone with information is asked to call troopers at 373-8300 or, to remain anonymous, Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-3333.

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