By Dan Rudy
WVFD responds to Thanksgiving morning fire
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Dan Rudy/ Wrangell Sentinel
Responders with Volunteer Fire Department and Police Department contain a fire at a rural Wrangell residence in the early hours of Nov. 26. No injuries were reported at the fire, which had been started by a large wood furnace inside the workshop.
Firefighters responded to an early fire on Thanksgiving Day. 20 Wrangell volunteers roused from their beds early that morning to answer an emergency call.
A structure fire at a 6-Mile Zimovia Highway residence was reported to emergency services at 2:17 a.m., setting off emergency radios around town and sounding the fire station alarm siren.
The first truck arrived from the substation at 5-Mile within five minutes to put out the blaze, which had started inside the residence's shop area. Additional vehicles and firefighters arrived at the scene shortly afterward, using compressed air foam on the wood and vertical surfaces to prevent flare-ups.
There were no injuries at the scene, and the fire was quickly contained. Chief Tim Rooney commended the department's response time, in particular the speedy deployment from the rural substation.
"If that had gone on any longer it could have been a heck of a lot worse," he said of the fire.
The fire appears to have originated from a large wood-burning stove, which had heated up nearby combustibles.
With winter weather settling in, Rooney reminds residents to keep warm safely: Make sure chimneys are swept clean, areas around heating sources kept clear and smoke detectors' batteries are up to date.
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