Carpenter Scott Carey was putting his life back together this week after a Saturday night fire destroyed his workshop on Chilkat State Park Road and virtually all his tools.
Support of friends has made a difference, he said. “Initially, I said ‘I’m a timber framer and I don’t even have a hammer.’ Almost immediately, I had several hammers.”
No one was hurt in the early-morning blaze that spread quickly through the 800-square-foot building. The cedar-sided building was full of dry lumber, said Haines Borough Fireman Al Badgley. The shop was uninsured.
Carey estimated the value of its contents – including machinery, solar panels, climbing gear and timber-framing tools – at $50,000.
Badgley said the cause of the fire was uncertain, but Carey had mentioned that he’d left stove ash from his house near or in the shop. Carey said he hadn’t been inside the building for a couple weeks.
Carey said he awoke and spotted the fire at around 1 a.m., about an hour after he’d walked by the building on the way to his house, about 100 feet away.
Carey built the structure shortly after moving here in 1982 and once used it as his house. He put on several additions and three years ago added electricity.
According to Badgley, the fire department received the call at 1:33 a.m. and arrived at 1:56 a.m., taking time to remove tire chains from two of the responding trucks. When firefighters showed up, the structure was caving in. Firefighters deferred to Carey’s wish to let the structure burn to reduce cleanup time.
There was no fuel or propane in the building, Carey said.
Calm winds and damp weather helped keep the fire from spreading, Carey said. Some nearby trees were charred, as was a section of boardwalk connecting the shop to his home.
Firemen remained on site until 4 a.m. “They were very professional and very caring,” Carey said.
On Sunday, about 30 neighbors helped clear building debris. During the cleanup, Carey told friends that when a sauna adjoining the shop fell onto a footbridge, he considered using his chainsaw to dismantle the bridge and prevent the fire from spreading. Then he realized the saw was in the blaze.
Neighbor Katey Palmer said Carey welcomed her family to the Chilkat State Park neighborhood 25 years ago, volunteering his time, expertise and tools to help build her house.
“When a tree fell on our house and punctured the roof, Scott happily volunteered to get up on the roof in strong winds to repair the damage,” Palmer said. “Without his shop and tools, Scott cannot make a living and everyone who depends on his work will suffer.”
A fire fund has been started at the Haines Bank to help cover Carey’s losses.