Two homes burn; one dead, two injured

WASILLA — Firefighters and state troopers were called to the scene of a house fire early Monday morning on Knik-Goose Bay Road outside Wasilla.

A man in the home, Bruce E. Braden, 54, of Wasilla, wasn’t able to escape. Firefighters responded to the scene near Mile 12 of KGB Road and doused the fire, but not before the residence was considered a total loss, according to an Alaska State Troopers report.

Mat-Su Borough Director of Emergency Services Dennis Brodigan said a neighbor reported the fire at 4:19 a.m. That call came right on the heels of a fire on Tanana Drive, which was reported at 3:43 a.m., where firefighters were already working.

“Luckily the house up on Tanana wasn’t really on fire other than just a clothes closet, and that was quickly extinguished,” Brodigan said.

However, the occupants, a man and a woman, were taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. The woman was later transferred to a Seattle hospital with severe burns, Brodigan said.

With crews already suited up and ready from the Tanana fire, it didn’t take long to get to Knik-Goose Bay Road. Brodigan said the first person on scene was a medic from Big Lake. Close on his heels was a Central Mat-Su Fire Department crew.

“A female at the scene stated that he (Braden) was definitely still inside, that he hadn’t come out yet,” Brodigan said.

Which means that the call to respond became all the more urgent. But the fire was quickly determined to be a lost cause.

“It was unfortunate that the house was 80 percent involved when our unit got on the scene,” Brodigan said. “They made the judgment call that it was just too dangerous to go in.”

The state Medical Examiner’s Office was notified and responded to the scene. A family member of Braden’s was also on the scene. Troopers say they are working with Central Mat-Su to investigate the cause of the fire but that foul play is not suspected.