Sunday fire destroys Big Lake home

BIG LAKE — Fire tore through a single-story home in Big Lake on Sunday night, leaving seven people temporarily homeless.

According to West Lakes battalion chief Jim Keel, the home was completely engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the home on West Garten Drive at around 5 p.m.

“The first unit on scene found flames coming out of all the windows,” Keel said Sunday evening while firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze.

Homeowner Thomas Gardner said he was inside the home with his girlfriend, a family friend and four kids when smoke began to waft through the house.

“I opened the door to my water shed and flames just started coming out of there,” he said. “So we grabbed the kids and tried to grab other things but by the time we got them out it was too smoky.”

No one was injured and Gardner said the family dog escaped — although a cat named Jasper and a turtle likely perished.

Gardner said his parents live in the area and would be putting the family up for the night. Keel said the Red Cross was also responding to help out with the family’s immediate needs.

“Obviously it’s a total loss,” Keel said.

Keel said units from West Lakes, Central Mat-Su and Houston fire departments responded to the blaze. He said the fire appeared to be caused by an electrical problem, but an official cause wouldn’t be known until after investigators were able to take a closer look.

Gardner said he built the house — where he’s lived for the past four years — by himself and doesn’t have insurance. Still, he vowed to rebuild as soon as possible.

“I worked hard for it and I’ll work hard and build it again,” he said.

He said he and his girlfriend lost most of their personal possessions, including family heirlooms that can’t be replaced.

“Everything I own and she owns is pretty much gone,” he said.

But, he added, the most important things inside the home were the people inside.

“That is the main thing, I’m happy for that,” he said. “Everything else is replaceable.”

As he stood watching the firefighters put out the flames, Gardner said he was at a loss for words to describe the devastation he was witnessing.

“It ain’t kicked in yet man,” he said. “Ain’t kicked in yet.”

On Monday, a Gofundme page was set up to help the family. To visit the page, visit https://www.gofundme.com/pzakxeng.

Keel said with the recent cold weather, the danger of house fires is a constant threat.

“Whether it be electrical, thawing pipes out underneath cellars or basements, we’ve had a lot of (carbon monoxide) issues already this year, stovepipes, stoves — mainly stoves — keep ‘em cleaned out, get ‘em checked and inspected before you’re lighting them off in the wintertime,” he said. “With the cold temperatures we’ve got now — and it’s going to get colder before it gets any warmer — be careful.”

Contact Frontiersman editor Matt Tunseth at 352-2268 or email matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com