Fire destroys house in Palmer

PALMER — Fire destroyed a two-story rental house along Badger Road in Palmer Friday.

A firefighter was transported to the hospital after ceiling materials fell on him while he was inside the building. His condition could not immediately be ascertained. None of the residents were home at the time of the fire’s discovery, according to Palmer Fire Chief John McNutt.

The house, valued at about $165,000 in the 2016 assessment, was gutted by flames, and the contents of the adjoining garage were largely destroyed.

Owner Paul Whitmore said he and his wife purchased the house a few years ago and intended to move into the house eventually. When they finished renovations, they decided they still liked their current house, and decided to rent out the house on Badger.

Whitmore was still waiting Friday morning to measure the full extent of the damage.

“I’ll just have to take a look and see if it looks like it’s in really bad shape,” he said.

Jean Snovel lives next door, and said she called 911 after she looked out her window to see the Whitmore property’s garage engulfed in flame. Moments later, she heard another series of explosions.

“It was already fully engulfed in flame when it exploded,” she said. “It was just a big boom, and then it kept on exploding on after that, small ones, just over and over and over.”

The fire started in the garage, and flames were visible when the first firefighters started to arrive, McNutt said.

“At that time, the full garage was already rolling, and then it just progressed through,” he said.

McNutt said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.