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Army identifies soldier killed in Iraq as Maine motor transport operator

Army officials on Friday released the identity of a Fort Wainwright soldier killed this week in Iraq.

Spc. Dustin Harris died Thursday when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle, Fort Wainwright officials said.

No other soldiers were injured in the accident near Bayji, Iraq, about halfway between Mosul and Baghdad on the Tigris River.

Harris, 21, of Bangor, Maine, was assigned to the 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, which is part of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team stationed in Mosul.

Harris was a motor transport operator who joined the Army in July 2004 and was assigned to Fort Wainwright in February 2005.

His relatives have been notified, officials said. There was no immediate word on a funeral or memorial services.

-- The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE

Stove fire leads to morning blaze at Ray's Restaurant in Midtown

Ray's Restaurant, an East Asian food emporium on Spenard Road near West Fireweed Lane, was damaged by fire Thursday night when a pan of oil on the stove ignited, the Anchorage Fire Department said Friday.

A burner beneath the pan had been left open, the agency said.

A person called in the fire about 11:50 p.m., and 11 units responded. Firefighters quickly knocked down a small fire in the kitchen.

A stove-top fire-suppression system stopped most of the fire in the kitchen area, but it already had spread through the duct system to the roof.

Firefighters then used a thermal-imaging camera to locate the fire, which they isolated to the ventilation-duct system and the roof top-fan unit, the agency said.

"They removed the ventilation unit, cut inspection holes in the roof to make sure the fire was fully extinguished and were able to determine that the fire has not extended into a secondary roof that had been built up over the original roof structure," it said in a written statement.

About 90 minutes after arriving, the fire was out and the firefighters were gone.

Damage was estimated at $75,000, the fire department said.

-- Anchorage Daily News

PETERSBURG

Told last week to stock survival suit, boater puts it to use when skiff sinks

The U.S. Coast Guard this week rescued a man from a small island near Petersburg, a pleasure boater who survived the capsizing and sinking of his skiff because of safety steps he was advised to take only last week, the agency said Thursday.

The Coast Guard found Charles B. Wright stranded on the shore of the Sukoi Islets a few miles north of Petersburg sometime before 3 p.m. Wednesday. The 36-year-old Wright, whose hometown and condition were unavailable, was taken to a Petersburg medical facility for observation, according to the agency.

Wright's 15-foot aluminum skiff hit a submerged object in Frederick Sound on Wednesday afternoon and rapidly started taking on water. Wright tried to get his boat grounded on the island before it sank, said the Coast Guard, but it overturned and went under a few hundred yards from shore.

He had donned a survival suit that gave him buoyancy and warmth for the swim to shore, the agency said. Wright brought with him a small dry box with flares and a cell phone, which he used to call for help.

In a voluntary dock-side boarding, Coast Guard crewmen visited his skiff on March 28 and found that Wright had neither survival suit nor emergency dry box, according to the agency.

The crew found no violations on the skiff, the Coast Guard said, but the boarding officer recommended that Wright stock up on a suit and dry box for storing flares, suggestions he apparently took to heart.

The Coast Guard said cell phones can be valuable but are limited in coverage areas. Boaters should also carry with them and store in a dry box a portable VHF FM radio.

More information about boating safety procedures and equipment is available from the Coast Guard Auxiliary at 1-907-463-2249.

-- Anchorage Daily News