Sharp-eyed neighbors call 911, save Big Lake home

BIG LAKE — A Wednesday fire displaced a family of four at the end of Rogers Road.

West Lakes Assistant Fire Chief Steve Barenburg said that a neighbor first reported the fire around midday.

“Neighbors drove by the house and noticed smoke coming from underneath the house and going up the wall. And then they noticed there were flames there,” Barenburg said.

No one was home at the time. The family had just left, but firefighters didn’t know that when they paged out, so the blaze drew a relatively large response, with tankers coming from the West Lakes, Central Mat-Su, Willow and Houston fire departments.

The response also was relatively quick, Barenburg said, since there were firefighters already at two West Lakes stations when the call went out.

“There was no power to the residence; we believe it was an accidental fire,” Barenburg said.

The home relies on generator power, he said, which was switched off when the family left. Firefighters made sure to shut off the propane as well, which was used to power the refrigerator and other things in the house.

Barenburg said the fire was contained to the kitchen. Though the flames were spotted coming from underneath, he said the fire started inside.

“It spread to underneath the house and that’s when it popped out,” he said.

Which was kind of a lucky thing, he said, since if the fire had stayed inside it likely wouldn’t have been noticeable until the house was engulfed in flames and thus unlikely to be saved.

“They definitely saved that house,” Barenburg said of the sharp-eyed neighbors. He estimated damage to the home at between $30,000 and $40,000. “It was a good save.”

The Mat-Su chapter of the Red Cross reports that two adults and two children lived in the home. They were able to stay with family. The Red Cross provided them food, clothing and shoes and referred them to a couple of local thrift stores.

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