Fire claims Wasilla boy

WASILLA — An early-morning fire at a home on Heather Way claimed the life of a 6-year-old boy Wednesday.

According to a press statement from Alaska State Troopers, the fire was reported just after 5 a.m. in the neighborhoods off of Schrock Road a few miles north of downtown Wasilla.

Steve Barenburg, assistant chief with the West Lakes Fire Department, was in charge of the response on scene.

“When we arrived we were originally told that there could be four people inside,” he said. “I turned out there were only two — the grandmother and grandson.”

Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele, who arrived on scene later into the call, said responders from his department were the first to arrive — Heather Way is just a few miles from Central’s big downtown station. Those responders were told a neighbor had pulled the grandmother — Zina J. Joseph, 53, of Wasilla — from the fire. Joseph didn’t want to leave and firefighters pulled her out of the home’s entryway and got her into an ambulance to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Barenburg said that Joseph told firefighters there were still two people inside. So firefighters went into the building.

“We took a hose line in, went downstairs and made our way to the back bedrooms, fighting fires along the way,” he said.

In one bedroom they found the body of an animal. In another they found the boy, identified later as Hayden Martin, 6, of Wasilla.

The boy was rushed out to medics.

“There was nothing that they could do,” Steele said. “Anytime a child is hurt or injured, it’s really horrible.”

Barenburg said the firefighters kept fighting, even though the stairs of the house had burned away. For all they knew, according to Joseph’s information, there was still a person inside — Joseph’s son.

Later on troopers told firefighters the son was likely not home at the time. But firefighters kept looking just in case until, finally, the son, John A. Joseph, 32, arrived on scene.

“We continued until we could verify that there was nobody else inside the structure,” Barenburg said.

Both Barenburg and Steele said that there has been no determination yet as to the cause of the fire. Central, West Lakes the State Fire Marshal and the troopers are jointly investigating.

“According to her statements she was smoking that night,” Barenburg said of conversations with Zina Joseph. But even basic facts, like in which room the blaze began, are still unclear.

“All we can narrow it down to is the upstairs,” Barenburg said.

Steele said these are the kinds of fires that are hardest on his responders. Barenburg said that counseling services are available to responders who need them and that firefighters are talking it out amongst themselves.

“We take the good with the bad and we have to help each other out,” Barenburg said.

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