An investigation into Monday’s fire at a downtown home did not uncover a certain cause, fire marshals say, but they identified a couple possibilities.
According to a Tuesday press release from Capital City Fire/Rescue Fire Marshal Dan Jager, the fire at 505 N. Franklin St. began in the master bedroom of the building’s third floor. The exact cause, Jager stated, is still undetermined.
During the investigation, according to the release, CCFR personnel found two possible sources that could have caused the fire: smoking materials (such as cigarettes or cigars, Jager said) that hadn’t been disposed of properly and the electrical wiring in the home.
The damage is estimated at $100,000 for the property and the contents inside. The home was insured, according to the release. According to City and Borough of Juneau records, the building is valued at $304,205. The Juneau Police Department assisted with the investigation, the release states.
Juneau writer and Alaska State Writer Laureate Ernestine Hayes owns the house, she said on the scene Monday. She said she had just bought it a month ago, and that her son Joshua Stephenson and his wife Giovanna Campagnolo had been living there for a few weeks.
Campagnolo and Stephenson were in the building at the time of the fire, according to Stephenson and fire personnel. The two of them, along with their dog Nymeria, escaped the building unharmed.
CCFR personnel responded to the fire just after 10:30 a.m. Monday, knocking down the flames and securing the building. Jager said on the scene that the cause of the fire did not appear to be suspicious.
The home, according to the city’s registry of historic buildings, was built in 1913. The old age of the building, Jager said, is not as important in their investigation as the age of the wiring.
“The construction of the building actually helped us due to the type of material used back in the early 1900s,” Jager said via email Tuesday. “Unlike modern, light weight construction, the construction techniques and materials used for this building contained the fire. The quick response by fire personnel and aggressive fire suppression kept the fire contained to the room of origin.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
