Family escapes from burning home before propane explosion

WASILLA — A family of five, including an 8-month-old baby girl, escaped unharmed from a burning home today moments before a propane tank on the porch exploded.

The fire in the seven-bedroom home at 9284 S. Polaris Lane off Horizon Street — 1 mile from Central Mat-Su Fire Station 63 off Knik-Goose Bay Road — mysteriously began just before 2 p.m. in the corner of the upstairs living room as homeowner Diane Conway was milling around the kitchen.

Conway’s daughter, Christy Munoz, and her husband, Danny Munoz, were napping downstairs with their infant daughter when the upstairs smoke alarm alerted her to trouble.

“I saw smoke everywhere in the living room,” the mother of 11 told Fire Captain Brian Shea. “Then I saw fire going up the drape and on the table in the corner. I tried to put out the fire with pitchers of water, but it was spreading too much. So I yelled for my daughter and her husband to get outside and call 911.”

Danny Munoz, 41, said he woke up to Conway’s screams and quickly ushered his wife and baby out the downstairs backdoor, then grabbed their frightened springer spaniel and dragged their cat out of the back of a closet.

“I picked up the dog and threw her outside. I stayed behind to grab some clothes and the baby’s carrier and car seat and a few important papers,” Munoz said. “I think I sucked in some of the smoke and I somehow twisted my knee, but otherwise I’m OK.”

Shortly after the family was safe on a neighbor’s lawn and fire crews were speeding toward their 5,600-square-foot home, the fire had spread to the back porch where a propane-powered barbecue grill stood.

“The tank exploded when the fire hit the grill,” said Abby Conway, who also lived in the home with her parents but was at work at a childcare center near Settler’s Bay when the fire began. “Thank god everyone got out.”

As the family’s youngest daughter, Conway said when she’s at work at Marie’s Little Lambs Learning Center she feels some anxiety when she hears fire truck sirens heading toward her parents’ home off Knik-Goose Bay Road where they’ve lived for the past eight years.

“I don’t know why, but sirens have always bothered me, so I always call to make sure everyone’s OK,” she said. “I heard these sirens just before I got off work at 2:30 and right after that my sister called me and said I need to get home. I was pretty scared.”

By the time Conway got home, Polaris Lane and the front lawn were packed with two fire engines, six tanker trucks, two ambulances and two rescue vehicles as about 30 firefighters from Mat-Su Central and West Lakes fire departments worked to contain the fire.

At least three-quarters of the home was most likely a total loss either from fire, smoke, water or fire retardant, according to Fire Chief James Steele.

Fortunately, the Conways have homeowners’ insurance and the local American Red Cross was on the scene quickly to assess their immediate clothing, housing and food needs.

Paul Conway Sr., Diane’s husband, had just begun a two-week stay at a Lake Hood fishing lodge when he learned of the fire.

“It happened in your corner by your chair,” Conway told her husband over a cellphone as medics waited to check her lungs and blood pressure.

Mr. Conway would be coming back home Thursday, she said.

Conway said she suspected the fire was sparked by an electrical malfunction because there were no other possible causes she could put her finger on.

“There weren’t any candles or any other fire source like that,” she said, adding she’s not sure if they’ll want to rebuild the home since it’s really too big for the family now — especially since their daughter’s family is likely going back to Florida soon.

“We don’t need this big house anymore, anyway,” Conway said, shaking her head. “I’m just happy everyone’s alive and well. I can’t ask for anything beyond that, really.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.