Meadow Lakes fire could be arson

July 26, 2006

By Amy Schenck

Frontiersman

A Meadow Lakes woman under critical care in a Seattle hospital may have been the victim of arson.

Rhonda Judd, 41, was in her mobile home on Hollow Nook Drive when the fire started around 11 p.m. Friday night. She ran to a neighbor's house, asked the neighbor to call 911, and then went back into the burning unit after a dog, said Greg Wilkinson, public information officer for the Alaska State Troopers.

An investigation into the fire is underway by troopers and the state fire marshal's office.

There is evidence of multiple, distinct starts to the fire, said Don Cuthbert, life safety inspection bureau supervisor for the fire marshal's office. Information about the cause of the blaze cannot be disclosed for at least another week, Cuthbert said.

Around the time the fire was reported, neighbors heard two explosions, the second much louder than the first, said Megan Metcalf, who lives two houses away from where the incident happened.

Judd was put on a breathing tube and taken from the fire scene to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, and then was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she is being monitored continuously.

The Alaska State Trooper's investigation is stymied by the fact that they haven't yet had a chance to talk to Judd, Wilkinson said. As of Wednesday, nobody had been taken into custody.

In addition to the Alaska State Troopers, approximately 20 firefighters from Meadow Lakes, Big Lake, Houston, Willow and Central Mat-Su fire departments responded to the fire, which destroyed Judd's home.

Contact Amy Schenck at 352-2269 or amy.schenck@frontiersman.com