Crime & Courts

Troopers say trespassers broke into and burned down Pilot Station home

A Pilot Station woman is accused of using gasoline to set fire to a home in Western Alaska.

Troopers say Matraca Alick, 27, was one of four people who broke into the Yukon River village home July 15. The group had planned to party and, after about half an hour, Alick spread gasoline around the front door and ignited it with a lighter, according to a trooper dispatch posted online.

No one was injured. Troopers said the occupant of the home — which was destroyed in the fire — was out of town.

"The homeowner's absence from the community was known," said trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters.

Alick is charged with first-degree arson and trespassing.

Emery Alick, 25, is charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and trespassing. Nolan Joseph is charged with trespassing. The fourth person involved was a 15-year-old girl, according to troopers.

All were arrested and taken to Bethel for an initial court appearance.

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. He was the lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lawless" project and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the ADN and ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. He joined the ADN in 2004 and was also an editor and investigative reporter at KTUU-TV. Email khopkins@adn.com

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