A blaze that destroyed two Chugiak mobile homes on Friday has displaced 14 people, according to fire officials.
The chief of the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department told Anchorage Fire Department official John See that an unattended hot oil cooker or fryer started the fire at a trailer on Dog Sled Court.
The cooker "was left alone for a short time and apparently ignited the trailer. The next-door trailer's entryway ignited after that," See said.
Both homes are a total loss, he said. One of the trailers was home to a large number of people.
According to See, eight units from the Anchorage Fire Department and seven units from the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze.
The fires occupied the two fire crews from shortly after 10 a.m. into late afternoon. Both fires were declared out around 4 p.m., officials said.
Matt Lauer, assistant chief of the Chugiak department, said the buildings' structural materials made putting out the fires a challenge. The oil from the cooker may have helped spread the fire too, he said.
A small wooden fence caused the fire to jump to the second home, Lauer said.
No one was injured in the fires, but a pet dog died, See said.
Eleven of the people displaced by the fire lived in the trailer that initially caught fire, Lauer said. There were "quite a few kids," he said.
The Red Cross is helping the families, See said.