Fire burns Jubilee house to the ground

Talkeetna and Willow firefighters responded to a call on Friday of a house fire on Jubilee drive. They put out the second-story blaze after a struggle to get access to the difficult driveway. Every precaution was taken, but the homeowners returned the next day to find the home burned completely to the ground.

Tim Morgan, Talkeetna’s Fire and Rescue captain, said the cause was a chimney fire. He said extensive efforts were made to make sure the second story blaze was completely extinguished. Morgan said he was sick to his stomach the next day when he heard the home had burned to the ground overnight.

Morgan said all precautions were taken: insulation was exposed, the chimney and every piece of sheetrock was exposed to make sure no embers still existed. A thermal imaging camera was used to locate any hot spots. In fact, Morgan said he was worried about water damage to the home. He visited the site again on Saturday after hearing from the homeowners that the house had burned to the ground.

Since there had been an identified original cause, he says the state fire marshall will not be called to the site.

It is the first rekindle he has seen in his 8 years in the Talkeetna Fire Department.

The home was previously owned by Angie Sipe , who now resides in Washington State. Sipe sold the house to Linda Gordon last year.

The homeowners were unable to be reached for comment at the time of this report.