Top Stories From Homer, Alaska

Photo by McKibben Jackinsky Monday afternoon, firefighters remove burned trees from property near the Caribou Hills home of Jim Matti.

"We had just put this place on the market to sell," Gigi Zoubek told the Homer News Monday morning. "We had to defend it."

The fire was first reported 12 miles east of Ninilchik early on the evening of June 19. It quickly grew to 500 acres, fueled by dry, spruce bark beetle-killed trees and dried grass. The following day, evacuation of area residents began. The next day, Oil Well Road was closed to the public at mile five. The fire has since spread to more than 52,000 acres and is being fought by a team of more than 500 personnel.

In the 12 years the Zoubeks have lived in the Caribou Hills, they have created a large defensible space around their property. It's so large that it is currently being used as a staging area for more than 200 firefighters whose tents are spread around the clearing.

"They asked my permission to be here. Permission to save my place," Zoubek said, laughing.

In the first few days after the fire began there were moments when Zoubek was not laughing, however. Like when she saw the wall of flames eating down the incline behind the lodge. And when black smoke of the approaching fire came up the hill on one side of the property.

"You can't be prepared and you can't predict fire," Zoubek said. "People tell you that, but you think you can."

Jim Matti, who lives a few miles away from the Zoubeks, also was notified that the area was being evacuated. Like the Zoubeks, Matti, who has lived in this area since 1995, chose to stay put. He also has a defensible space around his home, where he has replaced a forest of spruce and birch trees with grass.

"And I had an escape plan, a root cellar if it got too bad," he said. "But Thursday night I wondered if I'd made the right choice to stay."

The roar of the fire, which approached his home from one side and then the other, was frightening. The smoke was thick. The flames, which came within 60 feet of his home, were intense.

"When a fire's that hot, there's nothing you can do to fight it," Matti said.

All night long, he used sprinklers to saturate the area around his home.

"By Friday morning, things were a lot calmer," he said.

Since then, Matti has toured this remote neighborhood on his four-wheeler, his black Lab, Bogart, running along beside him, to see how neighboring structures fared.

"I've had lots of calls," he said, referring to questions from friends that evacuated and are eager to know if their homes are still standing.

Rick Northey, a retired fireman with 25 years experience, lives a short distance from Matti. He also chose not to leave the area. Like Matti and the Zoubeks, Northey's home is surrounded by a clearing that has been planted in grass.

Early Thursday, with the fire headed down a valley in front of Northey's residence, he wondered if he should have evacuated. Later in the day, the fire arrived.

Photo by McKibben Jackinsky Firefighters prepare to explore hot spots near the Caribou Hills home of Jim Matti.

"At one time, we had fire on all three sides of us," he said. "It had such a roar to it that it was just scary. ... Like a freight train."

All that night, Northey used hoses and sprinklers to thoroughly soak the green grass and trees around his home.

"We've been preparing for a fire here for 10 years," he said of steps taken since spruce bark beetles began turning the peninsula's lush, green forests into standing kindling. "We built in a clearing and we cleared back even more because we knew this could happen."

Although he is "very glad I stayed," Northey's decision to not evacuate has received criticism.

"I've caught a lot of flack from family and friends who wanted me to get out of here, but this is hard to walk away from," he said. Still, he added, "It's not worth dying for."

From 7 p.m. Tuesday until 7 a.m. Wednesday, the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team will allow recreational users, cabin- and homeowners of the Ninilchik 40 Subdivision and the Caribou Hills back into the area. After 7 a.m. the team is requesting that roads be cleared in order to not interfere with fire traffic. Oil Well Road will remain open daily from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. as work and fire conditions allow.

As of this afternoon, the fire is approximately 10 percent contained.

For updates, visit the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Management Web site at www.borough.kenai.ak.us/emergency or call (907) 714-2484.

McKibben Jackinsky can be contacted at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.