"Suspicious" fire extinguished early Friday morning

Early Friday morning, the Talkeetna Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire near Main Street.  Fire Chief Ken Farina says the call went out some time around 2:00 am.  Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, which was burning on the exterior of a sauna.  The building is on the same lot as Nagley’s General Store and the West Rib, and is owned by Dennis Freeman, proprietor of both businesses.  Chief Farina says that there was no power running to the sauna, and that it was not in use.  He calls the fire “suspicious.”  Sergeant Shuey of the Alaska State Trooper post in Talkeetna says that evidence has been collected from the fire.  That evidence will be examined in a lab to determine whether or not the fire was caused by arson.  Sergeant Shuey says the investigation by state fire marshals is ongoing.