The storage / garage building at the rear of United Rentals in Soldotna was destroyed in a Friday night fire, leaving loss to property as well as equipment.
Central Emergency Services Chief Roy Browning told KSRM News at the scene that what ignited the fire is still under investigation, but the fire quickly spread through the upper portion of the building from one side to the next, leading to the inevitable collapse of most of the building.
Browning confirmed that 35 firefighters responded to the scene, a collaborative effort between CES, Nikiski Fire, and Kenai Fire. All three chiefs were also present at the scene.
As the fire quickly spread within the building, the effort became more about containment, according to Browning. Not only did they need to ensure the embers did not cause adjacent fires to ignite, but they also had to watch for the potential impact on power lines if portions of the building were to fall and hit power poles operated by Homer Electric Association.
Bruce Shelley with HEA told KSRM on Monday that all was well on that front, but that HEA had a team on-scene: “Our teams came out. We worked hand-in-hand with our EMS services. They immediately contact us when there’s a fire like that. There’s always that concern of safety for the firemen. Think about that. There’s hot wires so firemen know where to turn off the main disconnects that you could do as a homeowner. Once it gets past that, then they rely on us. So if they let us know, we dispatch. We were out there, I’m sure, in the area. I saw some different things going on with that.”
Stay with KSRM for continued updates on this developing story.