Alaska News

Historic 'Alaska Hotel' at Alcan 'Mile 0' destroyed by fire

The Times Colonist of Victoria, B.C., Canada reports that the historic Alaska Hotel in Dawson Creek, burned down on Friday. The hotel is located at Mile Zero of the famed Alaska Highway, and had been an attraction for tourists for many years. The Alaska Hotel website described the hotel as a monument to the "spirit of northern adventure" with "old world charm." That long legacy is why Mayor Mike Bernier told the Times Colonist that the burning of the hotel was "quite an emotional time."

The fire started around 5 p.m. Friday, and quickly engulfed the building. In less than two hours, the hotel walls began to collapse. A neighboring hair salon was also destroyed in blaze. Thankfully though, nobody was injured. The cause of the fire is unknown, but authorities say it does not seem suspicious.

The hotel had been restored around 20 years ago, and was a big draw for tourists in the area.

Seventy years ago, the Alaska Hotel served many of the 12,000 American army troops who helped build the Alaska Highway. "We have some historic pictures of lineups down the street just so people could get in to buy a beer on their shift off," Bernier told the Times Colonist.

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.

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