Fire damages strip mall

WASILLA — Fire damaged a strip mall in a relatively visible part of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway Friday morning.

“The fire started underneath the floor and progressed and required quite a number of assets to make sure we got it out,” said Otto Feather, deputy director for fire of the Mat-Su Borough’s Department of Emergency Services.

The strip mall in question is a low-slung, wood-frame building on the highway’s frontage road at the highway’s intersection with Shennum Drive. Housed there are a dancing supply store, Bistro Red Beet and various other businesses.

In a statement to patrons Friday afternoon, Red Beet said that the restaurant would be closed “for an indefinite period” while restoration work on smoke damage the building suffered progresses.

“The two in the center of the building, 1-2-3 Look at Me Dance Boutique and Extreme Techniques Styling hair design, were less fortunate and have suffered extensive fire damage,” the statement said. “Janet Stotts Studio and (Bark N Purr Avenue) pet grooming on the other end of the building also have extensive smoke damage.”

Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele said the fire was reported at around 5:30 a.m. Crews had already been out to an earlier fire call that turned out to have been steam, so they were ready to respond to the strip mall.

“The first- and second-in unit ended up getting a quick knockdown,” he said, describing it as what firefighters often call a “good stop” — a fire they managed to keep from destroying the building.

As for cause and origin, Steele said that’s still unclear.

“Our dispatch said it was a passerby that had noticed smoke coming from the gabled vents of the building,” Steele said.

But the actual fire was much lower in the building. Steele confirmed what Feather said about the fire starting under the floorboards in the crawlspace.

“We don’t have determination on the exact cause yet,” Steele said.

Steele said firefighters had to cut holes into the roof over the most damaged unit to vent heat and gasses. He said Central Mat-Su received aide from both the Palmer and West Lakes fire departments.

Feather backed up Steele’s assessment of the firefighting efforts.

“It could have been much more of a disaster for the proprietors than it was,” he said. “They did a really good job. I’m really proud of them.”

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