Blaze cooks rumored meth lab

April 24, 2005

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Wary firefighters kept their distance from a burning house whose flames they fought for hours Friday morning.

"Ordinarily, we'd be more aggressive and make our way inside," said Central Mat-Su Fire Chief Jack Krill Jr. "It's difficult for firefighters to hit all the angles of the fires when they're working from the outside."

But Krill said they didn't dare. On

the way to the 2:30 a.m. fire at 5151 Vienna Woods Access Road, he got a

tip from dispatchers saying the fire might be located at a methamphetamine lab.

"We didn't want to risk any of the firefighters going inside," he said, adding that the volatile chemicals used in meth manufacture pose the potential for explosions, violent reactions and other hazards.

More than 30 firefighters from Meadow Lakes, Central Mat-Su and Houston responded to the fire with five tankers, three engines and one rescue vehicle.

Alaska State Troopers also responded. They left after about a half-hour, Krill said, and returned near the end to take photographs.

The two-story, 30-by-40-foot

unfinished house was surrounded by "many, many vehicles," two mobile-home trailers and other miscellaneous parts. With such a spread in the yard to negotiate, firefighters worried they wouldn't be able to sustain their water supply, and the fire was growing intense.

Four and a half hours later, it was out.

The cause of the fire is still a mystery.

"We were not able to get a whole lot of information from the property owners as to how the fire started," Krill said.

Firefighters found nothing suspicious, but Krill said they did not actively search for methamphetamine or chemicals and other materials used in its manufacture.

"It's possible there could have been materials inside the structure," he said, "but it was too great of a risk for us to dig around, to do a thorough investigation of the inside of the house."

Krill estimated the damage at roughly $50,000.

He said the homeowners declined help from the American Red Cross.

Contact Kate Golden at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.