Woman killed in Butte fire; Butte home and downtown Palmer business damaged in separate blazes

BUTTE — A flurry of fires in Palmer and Butte over the past several days killed one person, destroyed several homes and damaged one downtown business.

Two fires, one Sunday afternoon and the other Monday afternoon, occurred on Knik River Road in Butte. The Sunday blaze killed a yet-to-be-identified woman and injured a 55-year old Palmer man while the Monday blaze destroyed a home. A Sunday morning fire in downtown Palmer caused substantial damage to an auto repair shop.

Ken Barkley, assistant director of Mat-Su emergency services, said Alaska State Troopers (AST) and Butte, Palmer and Central Mat-Su fire departments responded to the fatality fire near mile 3 on Knik River Road. He said the house was fully involved when about two-dozen firefighters arrived.

AST reported two people were in the home at the time the fire was discovered. Charles "Chaz" Wocell woke up to the sound of smoke detectors going off and his dog barking, Barkley said. AST stated Wocell attempted to get the female out of the house but was unable to do so.

Troopers state Wocell ran down the roadway and flagged a passing motorist who called 911 then returned to the home. Reports stated he ran back inside a second time attempting to rescue the woman, sustaining injuries in the effort. A gofundme account set up by his brother said the deceased woman was his fiancée Ana.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze enough to get inside and locate the victim. The remains were transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for an autopsy and positive identification. The cause and origin of the fire remains under investigation.

Barkley said firefighters cleared the scene around 5 p.m. and the home was destroyed. An adjacent large outbuilding, a tire shop owned by Wocell, was not damaged. The gofundme account description said Wocell was not insured and lost everything in the blaze.

The other Knik River fire, Barkley said, was reported about 2:15 Monday afternoon at a residence near mile 9. Barkley said the fire was reported by someone on the other side of the river who saw smoke. Once the location was determined, firefighters were hampered by a locked gate and, Barkley said, required assistance from AST. Once past the gate, the road up to the home made it impossible to get firefighting apparatus close.

Barkley said several firefighters and troopers close to the fire determined the fact that there was nothing left of the structure or contents worth saving. He said responders were still concerned about possible victims.

"We didn't have an all-clear and there were no vehicle tracks out of the drive," Barkley said. "We did find some snowmachine tracks. We found out it was rented to someone who worked at (Knik River Lodge) at the end of the road. The troopers found the guy and found out that no one was at home."

Barkley said the home was rented by a family of three who had another residence at which to stay. Barkley said because the structure was totally razed by the time fire and police personnel arrived, and there were no injuries, the fire's cause will not be investigated. He said lack of physical evidence would make it extremely difficult if not impossible to determine the cause.

The third fire occurred Sunday morning around 10:15 a.m. at Jenski Automotive on South Colony Way. Palmer Fire Department Assistant Chief Todd Russell said a passerby observed smoke coming out of the structure and about 25 firefighters from Palmer, Butte and Central Mat-Su arrived on-scene. Russell said Central Mat-Su was called in because of the adjacent Eagle Hotel located next door.

"We put a stop on the fire and the Eagle Hotel was not threatened whatsoever," Russell said.

Firefighters remained at the scene until just before 1 p.m. Russell said one portion of the garage area was heavily damaged by fire while the remainder of the structure received heavy smoke and heat damage. There business was closed at the time of the fire. Russell said its cause remains under investigation.