Firefighters worked for around four hours to extinguish the blaze. (Abbey Collins)

A fire burned through a home in Haines Thursday night. The volunteer fire department worked for hours to put it out. It’s unclear what caused the blaze.


The smell of smoke filled the neighborhood as firefighters hosed the house on the west side of Oslund Dr. for around four hours. They were called to the scene around 5:45 p.m. Thursday night.

“Where the bulk of where the fire was is totally gone,” says Fire Chief Brian Clay.

He says in terms of size, this was a big fire.

“It was a two-story house with the top floor fully involved,” says Clay.

The homeowners, Dan and Jo Anna Egolf, were not in the house when it started. They came back when they found out about the fire and looked on as it was extinguished.

Clay says no one was injured in the fire.

He says the last of the blaze was put out between 9:30 and 10 p.m.

According to Clay, house fires this large are pretty unusual in Haines.

“We don’t see that many – these big house fires – that in Haines, no. Knock on wood, because of the prevention processes and stuff that we have in place,” says Clay.

The fire burned much of the top floor of the two-story house. (Abbey Collins)

The house is still standing, though much of it was severely burned. Clay says the Egolfs were able to salvage some things.

“They have been able to salvage some items out of the lower basement floors and stuff, but it did spread throughout the whole upper floor,” says Clay.

How the fire started is unknown. The Haines Police Department was working alongside the fire department and the state fire marshal to decide if an arson investigation should be pursued. But, according to Sgt. Josh Dryden, they have ruled that out at this time. An investigation continues into what did cause the fire.

The Egolfs declined to comment for this story.