Despite all that was lost in the fire, her daughter reported they were able to recover her dentures in the little plastic cup she kept them in at night.

“They were covered with a little soot, but otherwise completely intact,” said Cindy Johnson, Harter's daughter. “Mom was so worried about how she was going to replace them.”

While her dentures were safe, all else was lost to the blaze.

Including medication she needs to aid in her recovery from heart surgery in December.

“The medicine was in a fireproof box on the table,” Johnson said. “But they didn't survive the fire. The bottles were melted from the heat.”

Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire in Chugiak, but despite calling out eight trucks and having additional tankers respond from Eagle River and Elmendorf Air Force Base, they were unable to save the house.

CVFD spokesman Jeff Hartley said the department responded to a call at 9:18 p.m. from a neighbor reporting the fire, and remained on scene until 5 a.m.

“It was a total loss,” Hartley said. “The good thing is, when we arrived on scene, all the residents were out of the house and safe.”

Hartley added the home's sole resident and two dogs displaced by the fire were staying with her daughter in Eagle River. The cause of the fire was initially suspected to be something electrical.

“The owner indicated to us that it was an electrical fire,” Hartley said. “Chief (Bruce) Bartley confirmed that on Tuesday. The fire started in the breaker panel box and spread from there.”

Harter, 66, had no insurance on the 2,500-square foot home, which she had lived in for 31 years.

“Mom tried to renew her insurance five years ago but the insurance company turned her down because of the age of the building,” Johnson added. “Right now she is staying with my sister and doesn't know what she will do in the future. She says she wants to rebuild, but we just don't know if that's possible.”

A long time family friend has set up an account at Wells Fargo Bank for donations to assist Harter, who has worked as the logistics controller for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race for the last 30 years.

Recalling the night of the fire, Johnson said the part of the house that stood the longest before collapsing, was the burned out shell of the home the family originally bought in 1976.

“I guess if a home can be built from the remains of a fire back then, it can happen again,” Johnson said.

Reach the reporter at darrell.breese@alaskastar.com.

The front door and outer wall are all that remains standing after a fire consumed the Chugiak home of Lois Harter Sunday evening. Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department fire fighters fought the blaze for more than eight hours.