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Three fires struck the central Kenai Peninsula over the weekend, setting ablaze two structures and wild land. 051209 NEWS 1 Peninsula Clarion Three fires struck the central Kenai Peninsula over the weekend, setting ablaze two structures and wild land.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Story last updated at 5/12/2009 - 1:39 pm

3 blazes strike central peninsula over weekend

Three fires struck the central Kenai Peninsula over the weekend, setting ablaze two structures and wild land.

Central Emergency Services responded to the first blaze, a wildland fire, on Kalifornsky Beach off Cannery Road on Friday evening.

Crews found a 150-by-20-foot active grass fire.

The fire was under control in 15 minutes, according to CES reports. Personnel from the Division of Forestry took over, checking for deep rooted fire extensions and cleaning up.

"What made it burn so well is it's tall, dry grass with a bunch of dead wood in there, plus there was a pretty good wind that carried it pretty quickly ... that whole swath was pretty well burned," said Brad Nelson, CES assistant fire marshal.

The cause of the fire was unknown, though evidence found on scene suggested it was started by people.

"At this point we don't have a whole lot of information, but there was no natural phenomenon to cause it, plus we found alcohol bottles on site. Who knows if those were from before, but we're pretty confident (the fire) was man-made," Nelson said.

He said if there had been an active fire in a pit, the evidence was burned in the blaze.

The case remains under investigation.

On Saturday morning CES crews responded to a structure fire at a seasonal home on Betty Lou Drive.

No one was in the building at the time of the blaze, however, its owner, an Eagle River resident, was staying there for a couple of days, according to reports.

The two-story, $110,000 residence, was fully involved when the first engine arrived, and two hours later when the last flames were extinguished, it was considered a total loss.

A CES investigation determined the fire likely originated from a small space heater that either malfunctioned or was located too close to combustibles.

CES crews returned to Sterling Saturday night when a structure fire was reported at Cook's Tesoro gas station.

An employee reportedly put a lit cigarette into a butt can, setting the contents on fire and igniting an outside wall.

After calling 911 employees doused the flames with a chemical extinguisher.

CES personnel removed a section of wall to put out the remnants of the fire.

Damage was estimated to be $500.



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