Wrangell trailer fire displaces three

A woman and two young children were able to escape a trailer fire in Wrangell on Monday, but the home was declared a total loss and a pet dog perished in the blaze.

The home of Alora Wigg and her partner, Irene Buethe, in the Blooms Trailer Park burned to the ground with virtually all their possessions in it around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

"We don't know what had happened yet, what the cause was," Wigg said Tuesday. "We had a fire in our house and it caught everything. The kids and I made it out OK but my dog didn't survive and very little was salvageable."

Buethe said she is grateful for Jacob Soetaber "being the hero" Monday evening by spotting the fire and helping Wigg and the 3-year-old and 7-year-old boys escape unharmed.

"They were all the way in the back of the trailer," she said. "They grabbed the kids and they ran them out the door while it was engulfed in flames."

Wigg said it has been a traumatic experience to lose their home and all their possessions. Her 19-year-old son, Troy Winchester, also lived in the home and lost all his possessions in the fire as well. Her sister, Romona Wigg of Juneau, said only a couple items were salvageable from the trailer Tuesday afternoon.

"It was a total loss," she said. "She doesn't have anything, her phone, her toothbrush, anything."

Romona Wigg said she is gathering donations in Juneau and will be loading her truck and bringing much-needed items to Wrangell in the coming days. A bank account has also been set up for donations at Wells Fargo under the name "Alora Wigg Fire Account."

Wigg and Buethe have taken temporary refuge at a Wrangell hotel until they can get situated in a new residence. Neither of them are sure where they will end up. The homeowners did not have fire insurance.

"That's all I had - all we had," Buethe said. "Everything."

• Contact reporter Eric Morrison at 523-2269 or eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.