Several animals killed, others escape Friday house fire

WASILLA — A house fire gutted a two-story house, displaced at least two people and killed several animals Friday night in Wasilla.

Firefighters were able to rescue at least one turtle, a giant tortoise, a small black dog, and two potbelly pigs from a single-family home on North Justice Street shortly after responding to the fire, which engulfed the house about 7 p.m., and burned for hours while Enstar Natural Gas employees used a backhoe to access a gas line near the building’s driveway to shut down the line, said Central Mat-Su fire chief James Steele. A husband and wife who lived in the house were planning to relocate to Anchorage for the evening.

The fire was declared out at around 12:50 a.m. Saturday.

Firefighters from the Central Mat-Su and Palmer fire departments deployed hoses to tamp down the fire along the building’s roofline and the front of the house after arriving at the scene. As animals started to emerge from the burned building, firefighters began to treat them with water bottles and special animal oxygen masks, Steele said. A dog and a pig were treated with oxygen.

“They both made it,” he said. “We were really concerned with both of them, because actually the little dog was lifeless when we brought it out.”

Neighbors called 911 to report the fire, Steele said.

“We would probably call it about 60 percent engulfed when we got on scene,” he said.

It wasn't clear Friday night how many animals died in the blaze. Firefighters carried several dead pigs from the garage area after cutting a hole in the garage door to free one of the animals, which sprinted across the yard and leaned against a fence while the homeowners comforted it. The pigs are frequently spotted roaming near the house, usually in good weather.

The pigs are a beloved neighborhood fixture, said neighbor James Hastings.

“We all love the pigs,” he said. “The pigs are in the yard and they enjoy the summertime. They had a parrot that would sit on the pig and talk to it.”

Hastings was outside feeding his horses when he heard “a bit of commotion.

“It sounded like abnormal commotion, not just kids playing, but panicked,” he said.

Flames were already licking the top of the house, and an attempt to rescue the animals without fire equipment defied common sense, Hastings said. He considered opening the garage door, but feared feeding it more oxygen.

“Once the fire was internal, and we’ve gotta go up and around to get to the back door,” he said.

Hastings called the property owners to make sure no one was home, then called 911 a second time to tell them when the gas main ignited.

Members of a University of Alaska-Anchorage campus ministry group also spotted smoke and flames and rushed to call 911, said Steve Pavek, one of about 20 students.

“We went and shouted to make sure that there was nobody in the house,” he said. “There was nothing we could do with the fire at that time. Once we made sure no one was in the house, we ran away.”

The property owners declined a request to speak to the Frontiersman at the scene.

The animals were very dear pets, Hastings said.

“I love my horses, but not like she loves these pigs,” he said. “These are her kids. These are her kids and it’s devastating to see her so distraught.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.