Capital City Fire/Rescue firefighters worked Wednesday morning to extinguish a mobile home fire in the Mendenhall Valley.
The Juneau Police Department dispatch received a call at 10:16 a.m. Wednesday about a structure fire in the 8400 block of Thunder Mountain Road. By 11 a.m., firefighters were still tearing off parts of the roof to access flames still growing inside.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze inside the trailer approximately 45 minutes after arriving on scene. The home is considered a total loss, CCFR Fire Marshal Daniel Jager said.
Jager’s office investigated as soon as the fire was contained, and declared the blaze unintentional. The fire may have started, Jager said, by combustible materials being too close to a wooden stove.
Warlita Luciano, 68 — who lives in the trailer with her husband — said she was taking a shift break at the Super Bear Supermarket when she got the call that her home was on fire. She rushed over, concerned her husband might be asleep.
When she realized her husband was OK, her concerns shifted quickly to valuables inside.
“Paperwork, all our credentials, all our kids that we were working for in the Philippines, they’re all gone,” Luciano said. She said she remembered the exact spot in her living room — near the burned entryway — where she last saw a stack of papers regarding her and her husband’s immigration status.
That, on top of getting new clothes to start her shift tomorrow at Super Bear, were her major concerns.
Representatives from the American Red Cross were on site during the fire, offering Luciano and her husband blankets and comfort in knowing they would be placed in a hotel for the night, if that’s what they wanted.
More information about the possible cause of the fire was not immediately available as the firefighters were still working when the Empire was on the scene. Luciano’s husband — who was too distraught to talk — told American Red Cross personnel that he was outside when the fire started, clear from any danger.
Nearby units in the Thunder Mountain Mobile Park and the Luciano’s vehicles were not affected by the fire.
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
Capital City Fire/Rescue personnel put out a fire at trailer home number 22 belonging to Teddy and Warlita Luciano at the Thunder Mountain Mobile Park Wednesday. The fire started about 10 a.m. and there were no reported injuries.
A screengrab of CCFR’s Facebook page, showing a few posts about the fire.
