Fire doused before homes threatened

WASILLA — Crews scrambled Monday to douse a grassfire climbing up a bluff behind a pair of businesses, threatening homes above.

The fire, which started late in the afternoon behind and between Pioneer Door Inc. and All City Auto Body and Frame, took about 20 minutes to put down, said Central Mat-Su Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Keenan.

The two businesses are east of Hyer Road on Blue Lupine Drive, which runs parallel to the highway.

Keenan said the fire burned, “just shy of an acre.”

Gesturing to the top of the bluff, he said, “We put engines up there and stopped it before it got to the other property.”

Firefighters attacked the fire from above and below, getting the flames down before the crested the bluff on which the homes sat.

On scene at close to 5 p.m. a half-dozen yellow-shirted Division of Forestry firefighters were fanned out across a swath of scorched grass amidst small and full-grown birch trees. They ran chainsaws and hosed down hotspots.

About 10 more suited up in a nearby parking lot heading up to the fire in batches.

Keenan said the fire appeared to have been caused by humans, and Forestry was working to determine an exact cause. He referred questions to Forestry’s fire prevention officer Tom Grieling, who was not immediately available for comment.

—Andrew Wellner