Fire guts duplex on Basin Road, claims dog

A residential fire gutted a duplex on Basin Road, displacing three tenants and killing a pet dog Monday night.

The fire, which began slightly before midnight, had not been fully extinguished and flared up again Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Capital City Fire/Rescue responded to the fire at 11:39 p.m. with three engines, two ambulances and two squad units, Assistant Fire Chief Tod Chambers said.

The first unit arrived four minutes after being called out and faced the challenge of getting up a steep hill, what was essentially four stories of stairs, to reach the fire, Chambers said.

“It was just heavy fire,” he said in an interview at the scene mid-morning Tuesday. “We couldn’t get in until we beat it down from the outside.”

Chambers said firefighters could not get the power turned off and called Alaska Electric Light &Power to shut off power to the entire block until the line was physically removed.

“The occupants on one side of the duplex were asleep,” he said. “They were awakened by the smoke detector. The occupant of the side where we believe the fire started was already out of the building, as far as we can tell.”

One person was taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for observation, and a pet dog was killed, Chambers said.

A couple and a single woman were displaced by the fire, said Andrew Bogar from the Red Cross. They were offered immediate assistance in the form of psychological first aid, blankets and water, as well as help in the form of replacing some items such as clothing.

The tenants did not want immediate lodging assistance, but that is still available to them, Bogar said.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 3:34 a.m., but CCFR received a call at about 7:30 a.m. that the fire had ignited again.

“Obviously, there was not full extinguishment,” Chambers said. “It just takes one little heat source and some time and it can light back up.”

“It’s never a pleasant experience to have to come back because you didn’t get it out the first time,” he said, adding, “I don’t believe there was any more significant damage caused.”

The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen of one unit, but the fire marshals have been called out and the cause remains under investigation.

• Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.