Officials suspect arson sparked Sunday fire that injured firefighter

PALMER — A house fire near Hatcher Pass has landed two men in jail facing arson charges and prompted one firefighter to seek medical attention for a relatively minor injury.

According to a press release from the Alaska State Troopers, the fire was reported at 2:06 a.m., Sunday on E. Gold Bullion Boulevard near Lucky Shot Lane. Troopers charge Merl H. Badger Jr., 21, of Wasilla and Christopher M. Hartman, 21, of Palmer, with starting the fire. Both were located swiftly and arrested at Badger’s home off of Pioneer Peak Drive in Wasilla.

Palmer Fire Chief John McNutt said the blaze, though near the pass, actually fell in his department’s service area. An engine was on scene in short order.

“The first engine arrived on scene and actually knocked the fire down really quickly,” McNutt said.

He described the home as a trailer that someone had added on to over the years. It had been unoccupied for some time and was actually boarded up when it caught fire. McNutt said that the home wasn’t completely destroyed is remarkable, considering how quickly those types of structures tend to burn.

“For a trailer fire it was actually a really good stop,” he said.

He and the trooper’s report agreed, though, that damage was severe.

“When I got there they had put a really good knockdown on the fire. It was still burning on the outside area and had just started to enter into the trailer itself,” McNutt said.

The weather also decided to cooperate this weekend.

“Luckily, the winds had died down from the rest of the week so that helped us out quite a bit,” McNutt said.

The only injury, he said, was to a firefighter’s thumb and came as crews were trying to pull boards off the windows.

“When he was pulling the boards off he bent it backward,” McNutt said. Medics on scene recommended the firefighter have a doctor look at it and someone took him to the hospital in a private vehicle.

McNutt said he was happy the injury wasn’t more severe. He was quick to note that no one has yet proven the blaze was arson. If it does turn out that the fire was intentional, McNutt said, that makes any injury all the more galling.

“If it’s an arson it’s definitely something that could have been avoided. People forget that we put our lives out there,” he said.

The job is dangerous even when firefighters don’t go inside a burning building, he added.

“There was still quite a bit of snow in that area so walking around the structure itself was slippery,” McNutt said.

As for Badger and Hartman, jail records late Monday afternoon showed both were still incarcerated.

Both suspects have already made court appearances and are next scheduled for hearings on Jan. 26. Neither seems to have much criminal history to speak of, at least not according to court records.

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