Fire stopped just short of homes

PALMER — Firefighters stopped a wildfire just before it spread into a subdivision full of homes Wednesday.

Palmer Emergency Services Director John Owen said the cause of the blaze or where it started was not yet apparent. It was phoned in at around 6:26 p.m. and reported as burning off of Palmer-Fishhook Road.

High winds quickly spread the fire and pushed it toward the Cedar Hills subdivision.

“It was coming right this way,” Sgt. Kelly Turney with the Palmer Police Department said on scene, pointing to a nearby hill.

Turney and other PPD officers were sent into Cedar Hills to give everyone notice that they might soon need to evacuate. Occupants of two homes closest to the fire at the corner of Pioneer Parkway and Williwaw Drive were told they would definitely need to leave.

“Just as they were about to leave the fire department kind of got a handle on it,” Turney said.

The homeowners were allowed to stay, but some chose to leave. The Red Cross was standing at the ready to set up a shelter. By 7:30 p.m., Turney was mostly monitoring the radio and answering questions from worried onlookers. He said that in these situations police tell residents to gather up important items — medications, documents, pets — and an overnight bag and be ready to go.

Owen said the fire drew responders from the Palmer and Butte fire departments, as well as a planning specialist from the Mat-Su Borough’s Department of Emergency Services and firefighters from the state’s Division of Forestry.

Forestry also sent in a helicopter, which dropped water on the fire and was, Owen said, very helpful.

Palmer Fire Chief John McNutt said firefighters attacked the blaze from the north, south and west at the same time. Firefighters on the southern line were able to use hydrants in Cedar Hills. He said the fire was burning in grass and had spread to the trees.

“It was nothing man-made that we could see, it was all natural,” he said.

Owen emphasized how close the fire came to Cedar Hills.

“The fire was stopped successfully within 200-300 yards of the subdivision,” Owen said.

By around 8 p.m. it had been contained. Thursday morning, forestry’s report on new fires put the acreage burned at 6.6 acres. Forestry said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The Fishhook Golf Course apparently saw the edge of one of its tee boxes on the first hole singed, according to a post from the course’s Facebook account.

“Much thanks to the Palmer Fire Department for their quick work!” the post read, in part.

At around the time Palmer crews had set about battling the fire, a call came out for a “large fire” off of Fern Drive in the Central Mat-Su Fire Department’s service area.

“I think it was an old burn they had been burning previously and it re-ignited,” said Central Assistant Chief Michael Keenan. “They had an excavator out there and they got a line around it pretty quick.”

He said that between the winds and dry weather, this week has been a dangerous time for fires.

The state’s Division of Forestry has issued a burn suspension until further notice outlawing burn barrels and open burning with the exception of warming and cooking fires.

Forestry reported two new fires started in the Valley Wednesday in addition to the Cedar Hills and Fern fires. Keenan said Central has added staffing to be ready for the threat.

Forestry urges anyone starting camping or cooking fires to be cautious and to have water and a shovel close at hand.

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