Wasilla log home consumed by fire

Fire investigators from the Alaska State Fire Marshall's office looked for evidence of the cause of a house fire on Kianna Ave. south of Wasilla Monday. The fire completely destroyed a two-story log home owned by Benny and Evelyn Sena, who were out of state at the time. The house was unoccupied and firefighters from station 61 and 62 of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department put out the fire without incident.

"Man it happened fast. In 20 minutes it was gone," Floyd Sena said.

Firefighters were paged out at 7:22 Monday morning to the fire. Floyd Sena, Benny's brother, lives in a house next door. Floyd said he left the property briefly that morning and returned in time to see his brother's log home fully engulfed.

"I was gone maybe 30 minutes," Sena said.

The state fire marshall's office responded to the fire at the request of local authorities, according to Deputy Fire Marshall Carol Olson, the southcentral region supervisor. Olson said Wednesday the investigators have no reason to suspect arson and she does not consider the fire suspicious.

"We have a couple of interviews to conduct before we release a conclusion," Olson said.

The fire gave the investigators an opportunity for a coordinated response with an investigator from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. ATF's Anchorage office has a new mobile fire and explosive investigation vehicle that was brought to the scene. Olson said in the future the truck will be seen most often at investigations of larger more serious fire scenes.

"It was brought out, not necessarily because we needed the van there, but just to get the coordination down," Olson said. "This was just a real good opportunity to do some team work."