TALKEETNA -- Talkeetna's only physician came within about 20 minutes of losing his life early Tuesday morning when a faulty stove pipe and 47 pounds of gunpowder in his log cabin clinic caused an explosion that blew out the back door and incinerated most of the building.

Dr. James Yates, who opened Denali Family Medical Clinic on First Street 13 years ago, said Thursday his guardian angels must have had his back that rainy night.

"The hand of providence was definitely at work there," said Yates, 59. "I had just stepped out to run to the store with my dog, and as I was driving back with my hotdog and bleach I got a call from someone that my house exploded. I thought they were kidding."

He'd been doing laundry and watching TV at about 2:45 a.m. and needed more bleach at the nearby Tesoro station. He'd just packed his wood stove and hadn't realized that a seam in the stove pipe had split open and that his attic was becoming hotter and hotter.

A fresh coat of paint in his office manager's room and the noise from the washer and TV prevented him from hearing or smelling any danger, he said.

"Penny knew something was wrong," he said of his 5-year-old English Sheepdog." She didn't want to come with me at first. She was acting really crazy. Thank goodness I was able to coax her out because the town loves her. Everyone's been asking me about her since the fire."

Adding fuel to the fire was Yates' stockpile of 15,000 rounds of ammunition from his handloader for hunting, and propane tanks.

"I guess the propane tanks were shooting fireballs into the sky 50 to 60 feet high," he said. "But I missed all that."

Yates is mourning the loss of photos and videos of deceased friends, as well as his collection of 1920s-circa furniture and his 440-volume, leather-bound library decorating his waiting room. The estimated value of the loss exceeds $250,000, according to Alaska State Troopers.

But Yates is grateful for his life and the warmth shown by community members.

"Within hours of the fire, Larry Rivers made room in his airport hangar for me and my patients, and others donated office furniture, exam room furniture, supplies, clothes, food -- everything I needed to continue seeing patients," said Yates, who had been contemplating moving to Nome or back to Ohio before the fire. "This wouldn't have happened in my hometown in Ohio. Talkeetna is a special community, and I'm not leaving. These people are like family to me."