Alaska News

Three recent fires in downtown Talkeetna treated with suspicion

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reports that Talkeetna officials are suspicious that three fires sparked within the last 12 days may have been acts of arson.

The first fire, reported Nov. 1, occurred in a food truck that was shut down for the winter. The blaze spread to the Denali Dry Goods store and the Denali Zipline Tours building, but no farther.

"The first fire we were happy we did a nice save. We stopped it from spreading." Talkeetna Fire Department Captain Eric Chappel told the Frontiersman.

The second and third fires occurred within 24 hours of each other, on Saturday Nov. 10 around 9:30 p.m. and the following day around 6:30 p.m. Saturday's fire destroyed an unoccupied trailer, and Sunday's fire lit up an unoccupied log cabin, both of which were shut down for the winter. A shed next to the cabin was also destroyed in the fire.

"They were suspicious because they were unoccupied had no heating and no electricity to it, and a structure like that shouldn't catch fire," Chappel said. "We are asking people in the community that if they see anything, anybody around structures that shouldn't be there, to call Alaska State Troopers and report it."

Read more, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT