Fire in apartment building displaces 12 Palmer residents

PALMER -- A fire Thursday evening nearly destroyed a four-plex apartment building on South Cobb Street in Palmer, displacing 12 people, the building's owner reported.

The Palmer Fire Department, ambulance and police responded to a call that came in around 6:15 p.m., Palmer Fire Chief Dan Contini said. The cause of the fire is unknown, but Contini said he thinks it began when a mattress leaning against a heating duct on the outside of the building caught fire.

The fire apparently moved straight up the side of the building, igniting insulation around the second-story apartments and moving into the ceiling.

Chad Kaska, who owns the four-plex, said 12 people were living in the building, including four babies. The building received heavy damage and will need major repairs, Contini said.

The American Red Cross is putting up all 12 people in a nearby hotel and providing the families with shoes and clothes, said Kelly Hurd, spokesperson for the American Red Cross in Anchorage. The Red Cross will also be helping the families with their first month's rent, Hurd said.

One resident, Justin Saunders, sustained cuts on his hand after punching through a window to help a woman and her two children escape the blaze. He was treated Thursday night at Valley Hospital and released.

Another tenant, Leah Clayton, was also transported to Valley Hospital later that night for trauma, Kaska said.

The building was boarded up Friday afternoon as Palmer firefighters took photos and investigated further. One of the second-story units, where the blaze was hottest, was almost entirely destroyed, Kaska said. The other units sustained severe smoke and water damage.

Kaska said the insulation rekindled around 2 a.m. Friday and Palmer firefighters returned to the building to extinguish the fire.