Car Fire Spreads to House

At 1:37 a.m. this morning, Wednesday October 17, 2007 the Anchorage Fire Department received a 911 call reporting a car on fire next to a home at 8040 Northwood St.  The vehicle was reported to be engulfed in flames and threatening the home.  Eleven AFD units were dispatched and while responding additional callers reported the car exploding in a ball of flames extending to the dwelling.  Anchorage Police Officers were first on location and confirmed these reports.

Engine 7 from the Jewel Lake Fire Station arrived within five minutes and called a working fire.  The fire had scaled the exterior of the two story structure and breached the attic area through the eaves.  A fast attack was initiated on the exterior and as additional crews arrived they entered the structure to keep the flames from advancing further inside.  Some fire vented through portions of the roof, but the efforts of the fire crews succeeded in blocking the fire from reaching the living areas of the home.  The fire was brought under control in about twenty minutes.

The Red Cross was summoned for three adults displaced by the fire, and they also provided canteen services to fire crews.  There were no fire ground injuries and no civilian casualties.  A damage estimate was not available at this writing, although the exterior of the structure did receive extensive fire damage and some smoke damage throughout the interior.  Firefighters protected much of the dwellings furnishings with salvage covers while battling the blaze.  Fire Investigators were consulted as the origin of the fire in the vehicle is considered suspicious in nature.