State Fire Marshal’s Office investigating ‘extremely suspicious’ cause of fire that razed unoccupied house
Two houses in Delta Junction were heavily damaged by fire Monday. Both structures were unoccupied, and no one was injured. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of one of the fires, which sparked rumors locally about a serial arsonist.
Delta-area firefighters put in some long hours Monday, starting a few minutes after midnight when a call came in about a log cabin off the Richardson Highway north of town that was on fire. Delta Fire Chief Tony White says it appears to have been caused by a heater malfunction.
“It was a residence that the owner actually went to earlier in that day and lit the pellet stove, trying to warm it up,” White said Tuesday.
White said the owner was trying to get the cabin ready to rent-out, and had left after firing-up the pellet stove. He says the fire caused “considerable damage” that he estimated would cost up to $200,000 to repair. The firefighters doused the flames and left the structure at around 4 a.m. Monday -- then got the second fire call two and half hours later.
“We showed up to that fire,” he said, “and it was extremely suspicious -- in the origin, the way that the residence looked and some things that we’re trained to keep an eye out for.”
The chief said the firefighter in command of that response called Alaska State Troopers, who in turn contacted the state Fire Marshal’s Office, which is now investigating the cause of the fire. The structure located off Jack Warren Road also was unoccupied, and was a total loss. White declined further comment about the case while the investigation continues -- but he spoke to tamp down rumors spreading locally over social media that an arsonist has set both fires.
“The two fires are completely separate incidents,” he said. “There is no link between them. I know online there was talk of a serial arsonist or something crazy like that going on.”
The Facebook chatter picked up again after the Delta and Fort Greely fire departments got a third structure-fire call Monday afternoon. White says it was from the owner of the cabin calling to report that the fire had rekindled. The chief said firefighters sent back to the structure didn’t find any flames, only a smoldering timber that they doused again.
“We had a total of 16 personnel on each fire -- eight from Fort Greely and eight volunteers.”
The latter were from the combined City of Delta and regional Deltana volunteer fire departments. The two agencies agreed to consolidate after the Deltana board of directors announced in January that the department had to halt operations, because its insurance coverage had lapsed due to financial problems. But White says the volunteers all performed well together.
“We’ve really worked hard over the last two months with everything going on to build a solid relationship to where these volunteers have a place to go and call home,” he said.
The chief says he hopes to continue working closely with the Deltana volunteers, even after that department resolves its problems and resumes operations.
