According to Fairbanks Deputy Fire Marshal Ernie Misewicz, Larry Nelson, the owner and occupant of the 1996 Itasca motor home, was burned in the face and hands when he tried to put out the fire. Misewicz said the fire started at the base of a heating stove. Nelson was taken by ambulance to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for treatment of the burns, which Misewicz described as minor.
Fairbanks firefighters were first notified of the fire at 5:10 p.m. by an anonymous caller, according to Battalion Chief Mark Drygas. Drygas said a fire crew arrived at the scene in about four minutes to find the full-length motor home, which was parked away from other cars on the east end of the lot, engulfed in flames.
"It was completely on fire when we got there," he said.
Four firefighters and Drygas responded with one fire truck, and Drygas said they were able to put out the blaze in just a few minutes and were off the scene in less than an hour.
But the motor home was already totaled. The roof and sides had collapsed and almost everything nonmetal in the home was burned or melted.
"They just go up so fast," Drygas said of the motor home. "They're just packed full of flammables the plastic and the fabrics and the wood and it just goes."
Misewicz said the fire started at the base of an oil-fired 'drip'-type stove used to heat the motor home. He said Nelson tried to put the fire out, but was unable to do so and threw the stove out the door onto the ground. But the home was still on fire, and another attempt to put that fire out failed, so he got out of the home. He also tried to move the stove away, but the fire flared up again, according to Misewicz.
Misewicz said he doesn't know yet why the fire began.
"We know where the fire originated and whatnot, but now comes the task of figuring out what actually caused the fire to occur," he said. He said he didn't consider the stove to necessarily be an inappropriate device to use in a motor home, and said he thought the fire fell more into the category of an unfortunate incident.
He said the motor home was valued at $18,000 and is a total loss.
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
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