A small cabin was destroyed in a fire in Haines

A cabin at 6.5 mile north of Haines was destroyed in a blaze Wednesday evening from what’s suspected to have been a chimney fire. The single occupant and his animals escaped the blaze without injury. KHNS’ Corinne Smith reports.

Haines Volunteer Fire Chief Al Giddings says firefighters got a call about a structure fire around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. 

“It was approximately 250 feet from the side of the highway, there was no driveway access,” Giddings said. “So we had to, the firefighters advanced 200 feet of a two and a half inch attack line. And then from that 250 foot sections of inch and three quarter attack line, and they were able to extinguish the fire. But unfortunately, the structure was a total loss.”

Giddings says it was a small, roughly seven by 10 foot cabin, and the temporary residence for one occupant, who escaped with his three dog.

“So he made it to safety up on the roadside, and was met there with our ambulance crew, the police department, and citizens that had stopped for help, and he did not need medical assistance.”

Giddings said the man reported the cause of the fire to be related to the wood stove. 

“​​So he briefly explained a little bit of what he thinks may have happened, and it appears as if the fire may have originated from a cast iron, kind of potbelly stove. And with the cold, he’d been really stoking it with quite a bit of wood. And I think just the age of the house and maybe an imperfect installation, it spread into the roof structure of the house and then he ran from there,” Giddings said.

Giddings says the Salvation Army arranged for temporary housing for the unnamed man. He says the owner of the cabin was contacted, and estimates the damage to be about $1,000. 

Giddings says his department has responded to approximately six chimney fires so far this winter. He urges the public to make sure to keep chimneys clean.

“If there’s any creosote that builds up in the upper areas of the smokestack, that can ignite. And those fires, kind of petroleum based (or) oil base, they can get pretty hot, they can burn 800, 900, 1200 degrees where it can actually melt through the chimney stack. So I would just say, you know, monitor your fires, be very careful. Especially if you’re burning green wood, unseasoned wood.”

Gidding says 14 members of the Haines volunteer fire department and EMS team responded, including one engine and one 4,000 gallon fire tanker. He said if there is any suspicion of a chimney fire, do not hesitate to call 911.