A dish towel that caught fire started a blaze in a Second Avenue apartment complex June 28, displacing three families.
Incident commander Scott Bradford of the Haines Volunteer Fire Department said the blaze at Mountain View Apartments was called in at about 6 p.m.
The fire originated in the smaller of the two apartment buildings owned by property investor Chris Thorgesen. The building includes the studio unit where the fire started and two other apartments on the main level, and one larger apartment and storage area on the lower level.
According to the apartment’s two tenants, Bradford said, a rag caught fire and somehow ended up on the floor or in a garbage can while they were trying to get it into the bathroom. “The story was vague … but it appears to be the cause according to the occupants,” Bradford said.
Volunteer firefighter Sean Maidy said he, police chief Heath Scott and firefighter Chuck Mitman were at the public safety commission meeting in the borough assembly chambers when the sirens sounded for “all hands.” Maidy said the trio sprinted out of the room.
Bradford said at least 20 volunteer firefighters responded, as well as an emergency medical services crew in an ambulance. “We knocked the fire down relatively quickly,” he said. Using water from two fire trucks and a fire hydrant, firefighters hosed down the front and back of the building.
After controlling the flames, firefighters pulled down parts of the ceiling and opened holes in the walls to ensure the fire was extinguished, Bradford said.
Tenants in both apartment buildings were evacuated. Bradford said one person was taken to the clinic for observation, but no one was injured.
Rita Brouillette rented an apartment at the end of the building. She said she left home for a friend’s house about 30 minutes before the blaze. “I’m glad we weren’t home,” she said. Three out of the four apartments in the building were occupied.
Police contacted the local Salvation Army and the Red Cross out of Juneau, which helped to house the three displaced families. Residents of the second apartment building were allowed back into their units later that night.
Rising smoke could be seen from Main Street, and a crowd of nearly 50 people gathered to watch the firefighters work. Bradford said the firemen did a good job. “We performed our duties well.”