IFire Destroys Jones
Property in Soldotna
mm Clearing of debris began Tues
|P|by from the site of Friday's dis
1 Istrous fire which completely
leveled the dormitory and cafe
| at Towne Center in Soldotna de
spite combined efforts of Soldot
| is ^ and Kenai Volunteer Fire De
Bl§ J. E. (Jim) Jones, owner of
■ towne Center, says (rebuilding
| ; y ill begin at once. He expects to
■B^ave cafe and dormitory complet
and in operation within 30 to
- 8b days, weather permitting. Two
4ther buildings, Noub’s Garage
and Jean’s Surplus Store, also
•$\vned by Jones ami adjacent to
•;-&e fire area, were not damaged.
|||f Damages have been estimated
a" $34,000 for the U-shaped pre
itabiicated wood structure which
housed the Towne Cafe, leased
and operated by Hazel Rickard
pjj&.’d the Towne Dorm, operated
By the owner. An additional
H prgvfd
mmwF
.
Bb- ° ^l H 3 9 3 /Pr/ n' n °
I Corklina»n%"nst
I lOOfniffiMpfr ■
K nst CorWine; $|f
B 9/16' pUr
| Lead aRd
gt Corkune, $77
|| P v*' 10 0
I ALSO
; WAfcL'S
* SPECIAL
1 BLUE 5«ew|fcn«t
POlYPROPEi.ENE
COMPETITIVE
?i. es
(Ac!, for free
demonstration
of the now
non-slip
hollow lira id
ring i';no
splice.) ,
Fisherman's Dock Seattle
$5,000 was estimated for con
tents, none of which were saved
with the exception of a few chairs
and tables from the cafe.
An insurance adjustor from
Anchorage evaluated the loss.
Sunday. There was fire insurance
coverage of $ 15,000 on the build
ing but none on its contents.
No one was- injured in the Tire.
John McLane, employee for Core
Lab, was asleep in the dormitory
and was awakened by smoke and
flames. He escaped safely but be
cause of smoke was unable to find
his wallet when he dropped it.
It contained several hundred dol
lars.
Buddy Robertson, who lost Ms
home in a fire on his homestead
near Solootna only a short time
ago, was a second time loser. His
clothing a> well as those of all
other men rooming in the dormi
tory we.? consumed in the blase.
Bill Byers of B & B Texaco
Station 11 eporbedly was first to
notice smoke from the nearby
building and called the Soldotna
Volunteer Fire Department con
tacting A! Morasse, secretary of
the department.
Harold Jackson, fire chief,
and twelve volunteer fire
men immediately responded to the
call, which .was received at 11:20
am. The department’s equipment
currently consists only of a jeep
truck equipped with a 250-gallon
water tank lit? 1 a pump.
The Kettai ^Volunteer Fire De
partment was called by Dick Hail
local bank manager, ami 10 men
and two pieces of equipment were
at the scene within .15 minutes.
The Soldotna fire chief puaised
ti.e Kenni firemen for their spec ly
response and cooperation in as
sisting in bringing the flames
under control. J
“WithOMt tijeip prompt and ex
cellent hd^-it fs doubtful if We
could have prevented the fire
from spreading to other build
ings,” Jacks on said.
Harold Jackson, fire chief, and
a delegation from Soldotna are
going to Anchorage Saturday to
see about . purchasing a larger
fire truck for the Soldotna Vol
unteer Fire Department.
Jones also extended thanks to
both fire departments. Charles
Archer is fire chief ,at Kenni. .
"Soldotna firemen were very of
ficient but it is hopeless t.o expect
a fire department, regardless of
efficiency, to combat a fire over
a 4,000 square foot area •with a
tank which holds only 250 gallons
of water,
“I hope the Soldotna community
will wake up to the need for big
ger and better fire fighting e
quipment. We need a fire truck
with capacity of 1,000 - 2000
gallons or more as well as com
pletion of a public water system
in order to save homes and busi
ness establishments from future
fires Insurance rates here are
nearly prohibitive, and will re
main so until we have more ade
quate fire protection.”
The fire originated in the bath
room section -which-contained the
hot water hdrt'T. The heater,
however, did not explode as was
previously reported, Jones said.
Toe report that the fuel tahk
outside of the building fed the
flames was also erroneous, he
added. The 540-gallon tank did
build up pressure from the heat
and ejected oil l ack of the build
ing into a pool which later ig
nited after the structure had been
nearly destroyed. The tank itself
is still standing and is unharmed.
Jones plans to rebuild with the
dorm and the cafe to be in separ
ate wooden frame structures lo
cated 20 feet apart. The 16 room
din mi lory will be 28’ x 78’ and
the cafe 20’ x 30’ with the fur
nace room with heate; and pump
to be housed in a concrete block
building 20 feet from either build
ing. A concrete -'Mack rnnssage
way will connect the buildings as
a lire precaution.
Homer Hosting
Winter Carnival
Events in Mareh
Homer Winter Carnival events,
set for March 2, 3 and 4, will
include snow-shoe baseball, stock
car races cross cut saw contest,
basketball, a parade, pie eating
contest, three day open bowling
tournament, fashion and talent
show, a handicap clog race, and
one dog an! three dog weight
pulling contests.
A VIP dinner and awards pre
sentation are scheduled for 5 y.m.
on March 3 with an .‘Under 8ix
teea” chaperoned dance for
THE KEN Al FlKE DEPARTMENT arrived at .SeWotna to fight
the Tow He Form fire 12! - minutes, after the cal* came in but
were stU too late to save the building.
Luke’s Welding Service
WEEDING SUPPLIES
STEEL RADIATOR REPAIR
PIPE THAWING — SNOW PLOW ING
283-7727 Kenai
youngsters the same night as
the coronation ball. The selection
and crowning of the 1962 Car
rival queen will take place at
10 p.m. with the dance itself to
begin at 8 p.m.
The handicap dog race is ex
pected to provide plenty of
laughs, according to Mike Clea
ver, acting chairman and vice
president of the Homer Winter
Carnival Assoc., Inc,
Contestants, zipped securely in
sleeping hags, are to !be in sim
ulated camp atmosphere with
dogs tied up and camping gear
scattered around. The contest
ant to get out of sleeping bag,
pick up his gear, pack it on his
sled, hook up his dogs and reach
the finish line first will be de*
dared the winner.
Door prizes will be awarded
at the coronation ball. First prize
is a tape recorder; second prize,
a matching Mr. and Mrs. hand
knit Canadian yarn sweater set
in bulky knit,., and third prize,
$50 in cash.
SEE—HOMER HOSTS— p, 12
' •; '■ ■ r/*^T: * x. •
UNI FLAME
24-Hour delivery
Call 262-4544
Alaska Gil Sales
& Service, flue.
Exclusive Distributer of UNION OIL Products
FOR KEN \I ^DELIVERIES Bl-j K PLANT. ^OTNA
r\ 1 ti" ‘l PAM. V ft It’KEY, MUR.
Carl Rodgers
uiRCH drive Phone 262-4o44
KE.VAJ, ALASKA
lllimwiwr wi ll IMII - - Hill-1H I mi r irTriirn I'llirwiri
i*,..^. te^x- ; <*-%;-*vv~ ■-'v:..:^r=„^,:^ii,-2?i;r^
The Village
SHOPPING CENTER
in Soldotna
will have a
GRAND
OPENING
MARCH 3 & 4
it will be
He biggest affair
to felt Stldstiia
Don’t forget March 3 and 4
The Village
SheESjslRg Center
MOTEL — LOUNGE — CAFE
WOODFORD'S MEN'S WEAR — JIAHVKNE’S DRESS SHOD