Big Lake family OK following house fire sparked in chimney

BIG LAKE — Fire scorched but didn’t destroy a home in Big Lake this past week.

Firefighters were called out to the blaze at 1:40 a.m. Tuesday to the home on Island Lake Drive.

Big Lake Fire Chief Bill Gamble said the first responder on scene, the on-duty ambulance supervisor, found the homeowners on the roof trying to put the fire out with a garden hose and a fire extinguisher.

Gamble said the fire started in a chimney, burning into the roof and set second-story rooms on fire.

“The owner stated that she had four smoke detectors in the house and had recently checked the batteries, but they never went off until the fire burned through the roof and into the second floor of the structure. She was initially alerted to the fire by the sound of debris falling back down the chimney,” Gamble said.

Firefighters first on scene reported the roof was on fire as well as an upstairs room.

“Central Mat-Su Fire Department Lt. Jake Boothby stated that one room on the second floor was just about to flash over when firefighters knocked the fire down,” Gamble said.

The fire, the chief says in his report, was mostly contained in the building’s second story, though the first story sustained smoke and water damage. No one was hurt in the fire, but the homeowner said it was a close call.

“Her 18-year-old grandson was sleeping in the room right below where the fire started on the roof and she had to wake him to get him safely out of the house,” Gamble said.

The owner was also able to get her dogs out, but as of 4:30 a.m. when firefighters left the scene a calico cat was still unaccounted for.

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