Central Peninsula law enforcement officials and addiction counselors agree — area abuse of heroin has spread over the last several years and was the area’s largest problem in 2012.

Central Peninsula Hospital’s Serenity House saw a “very rapid” shift in patients admitted during the year, said Kristie Sellers, director of behavioral health. Serenity House, which tracks specific drugs patients have abused, saw a significant increase in heroin addiction, she said.

“It wasn’t a gradual shift at all; it was more like a flood,” Sellers said.

He entered the prison system when he was 20 years old. During a robbery, Rey Soto killed a man. Back then, he failed to grasp the importance of life, he said.

For ten years, he enrolled in programs within the state’s prison system. Soto reached a point where he felt the need to put his knowledge to practice. And six months ago, he joined Wildwood Correctional Center’s new dog program — inmates train dogs the prison receives from the Kenai Animal Shelter.

A man suffered minor injuries and two dogs died after a motor home caught fire early Thursday in Soldotna. The fire destroyed the motor home as well as a fifth wheel RV trailer, both of which were being lived in.

The fire originated in the motor home. Investigators determined a dog likely caused the fire by knocking over a kerosene heater, said Central Emergency Services safety officer Brad Nelson.

“There were a couple witnesses, but no one saw the dog knock the heater over,” Nelson said. “We’re 99 percent sure that the dog caused it.”

When an unknown thief stole local handyman Rick Topp’s pickup from the Home Depot parking lot, it deprived the self-employed worker of more than his snowplow and tools — it deprived him of his livelihood.

Luckily, Topp’s affability garnered close connections with other handymen, who jumped at the opportunity to help a friend in need. Two days following the theft, Topp discovered a cache of tools sitting in the middle of his garage.

“I opened my garage door and saw a pile of tools,” he said. “I had no idea where they came from; I just thought, ‘Holy crap, that’s awesome.’”