A fire burned a two-story Sterling home and about half its contents Friday morning, according to a Central Emergency Services official. No one was injured in the fire.

An Alaska State Trooper discovered the house fire at about 10:15 a.m., Fire Marshal Gary Hale said. The trooper reported “unusually” black smoke, and when he called dispatch, the front porch was on fire, Hale said.

Ed Seims, the owner of  the 38765 McDowell home, off of North Robinson Loop, was at work during the fire, Hale said. 

It was President’s Day last year, and the 60-year-old was walking along the Kenai River’s south beach in a gale, snow and sand particles whipping against his body.

The sky was overcast and the sea was white-capped, and it broke on the shore as the tide rolled in.

He wanted to sit somewhere to watch the weather. As a fisherman, he said, he liked the energy in a gale.

As he walked, he noticed a large block of shore ice sitting below the tide line. He figured the river had carried it down. It was about the size of a single-car garage, he said.