Mat-Su’s holiest windstorm casualty? Wasilla’s baby Jesus and family
A fire destroyed a city-owned nativity scene in Wasilla after its shelter flipped over during a December windstorm.
What you need to know:
- A city-owned nativity display in Wasilla was destroyed in December when high winds flipped it upside down and ignited decorative hay, causing a fire.
- Wasilla’s public works director said the display will be redesigned to eliminate fire hazards.
- December windstorms caused multiple fires and infrastructure damage across the region. Wasilla’s City Council declared a disaster, allowing the city to seek state funds. The nativity display was not included in the resolution.
- Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.
WASILLA – Next time, Wasilla city officials say they plan to make sure baby Jesus won’t accidentally burst into flames during a windstorm.
In what was likely one of the more unusual losses triggered by December’s historic windstorms, a city-owned nativity scene installed at Iditapark flipped over on Dec. 14 and caught fire when the manger, baby Jesus and decorative hay fell into a heat lamp, officials said during a regular City Council meeting this week.
“In the past the window would ice up, so staff built a new house for baby Jesus and installed -- up in the air -- a heater just to keep the frost off so that you can see inside,” Wasilla Public Works Director Erich Schaal said during the meeting Monday. “But the wind was so strong that it flipped the whole thing on its roof, which then became the floor, which then caught all the hay on fire.”
The 8-by-12-foot shed and display – including baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, three wise men and animal figurines – were destroyed, Schaal said. The display was new this year.
The blaze, which was completely contained within the enclosure and did not spread to any other parts of the park, was spotted by a member of the nearby Mat-Su Central Fire Department Station 61 as he used the facility’s gym. Officials broke open the back of the display to extinguish the flames, Schaal said.
Schaal said the city will redesign the display to eliminate fire hazards.
“That was not the plan – flipping baby Jesus was not on our bingo card,” he said. “So moving forward, we will come up with a solution that does not cause that again.”
Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford said that despite wind-related cancellation of the city’s annual tree lighting and postponed New Year’s Eve fireworks, the city’s holiday activities improve every year. Next time, she said, they’ll make sure Jesus and his family stay safe.
“Every year it’s bigger and better,” she said. “And maybe next year we won't burn baby Jesus.”
Wasilla hosts nativity displays and menorahs on city property each December at Iditapark and next to Wasilla Lake. The Iditapark menorah was also damaged in the storm but was quickly repaired by Palmer-based artist Patrick Garley, officials with the Mat-Su Jewish Center said last month. The menorah and nativity at Wasilla Lake were not damaged.
The December storms also triggered multiple home fires across the region, including a cluster of fires in single-family homes and a five-plex near Susitna Avenue in Wasilla on Dec. 6. Those fires were sparked when an electric wire hit the ground and caused a power surge, Matanuska-Susitna Borough emergency officials said last month.
The borough also received a record number of emergency medical service calls last month, Borough Manager Mike Brown said in an update published earlier this month.
The Wasilla City Council unanimously approved a windstorm disaster declaration during Monday’s meeting, allowing the city to apply for state funds to cover cleanup costs and minor city infrastructure damage caused by the storm, including fencing, roofing, and heating systems in some city buildings. The Mat-Su Assembly approved a separate disaster declaration in December.
The resolution covers only damage from the first major windstorm, between Dec. 5 and 9, and does not include the nativity.
Wasilla is the only city in the region to officially declare a disaster and seek state emergency funding following the December storms.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com