A cabin outside of Haines burned down on Last week. The fire department was quickly on scene, but the building was destroyed, and the circumstances of the fire are suspicious. 

 

A volunteer with the Haines Volunteer Fire Department was the first to notice flames coming out of the log cabin. He was driving by Carr’s Cove last Thursday morning, around 9.30. He called 911. Fire Chief Brian Clay says the response was swift. 

Clay: “The response was good, we were able to leave the hall within four minutes with a truck and a tanker and we had about 12 to 15 firefighters for about four or five hours.” 

When they arrived, firefighters found the structure engulfed in flames. 

Clay: “The house was fully involved, and pretty much burned everything inside.”

Clay says the firefighters initially attacked the fire with the water cannon on their truck. Crews deployed two additional hoses. The incident was outside the town’s water distribution system, so tanker trucks had to shuttle water to the scene. Clay says the crew got the fire under control in about a half hour, and spent the rest of their time on scene doing clean up, making sure no embers were left hot. Despite being unable to save the structure, Clay says the crews successfully prevented the fire from spreading.

Clay: “Nothing else was damaged, there was a smokehouse behind the place, about ten feet away, it didn’t even have any burns on it.”

Owner Cory Mann says the cabin had been in his family for generations, but hadn’t been lived in for a long time. He says an acquaintance had been staying at the property for about a month. Mann had asked the person to assess the potential for renovating the cabin in exchange for room and board. 

Mann: “I just wanted him to see what it might cost to turn the cabin into something more useable, like storage or living ability again.”

During that time, Mann says he had been in Juneau caring for a relative.  An email thread he provided to KHNS indicates at first a friendly rapport. Their relationship took a turn for the worse a few days before the fire, because of a growing disagreement over finances. 

Mann says he believes the person burned the cabin down intentionally. But

Interim Police Chief Josh Dryden says the person was contacted during the investigation, and there was no indication of arson. No charges have been filed at this time. The person did not respond to an email from KHNS requesting a comment. 

On the day before the fire, the person wrote to Mann in threatening terms. He asked for $2300 dollars in compensation for the work he claimed to have done. He wrote: “Money noon tomorrow. Figure it out, no excuses. Your cheapest option is to pay me to leave. Money noon tomorrow.”

The next morning, around the time the fire department was putting out the fire, the person wrote to Mann: “You are so very f***ed.” 

The police were also shown the back and forth communication. Mann says he finds the whole thing distressing. 

Mann It’s incredibly stressful and distressing that somebody would burn the place down after threatening me, threatening me over the phone and over email. And we can’t do anything about it.”  

Police Chief Dryden says the person was found trespassing on Mann’s property after the fire. He says the police department offered assistance for him to leave town. Dryden says to his knowledge, the person is no longer in Haines.

A brown dog was found at the scene of the fire, and brought to the animal shelter. A post on social media indicates the dog is up for adoption.