A fire cut off sewer service for people in the Western Alaska village of Emmonak Monday, and city manager Martin Moore said it could take a week to repair the system, leaving residents without flushing toilets and the local school closed.
"They cannot wash their clothes, they cannot shower, they cannot bathe, they cannot flush their toilets," Moore said in an interview Monday. "It's a major problem right now."
The lack of sewer service closed the Emmonak School Monday, Moore said. KTUU first reported Monday afternoon that a fire had cut off the village's sewer service. John Brady, Emmonak school principal, told KTUU that the 215-student school was expected to remain closed for a week to 10 days.
Emmonak Mayor Wilbur Hootch said one of the village's vacuum pumps had caught fire early Monday morning. He said the pump was also connected to the village's water system. On Monday, he estimated that the village had between 52,000 and 75,000 gallons of consumable drinking water in its reserve. About 800 people live in the village.
"We hope that will be enough," he said of the community's water supply.
Moore said replacement parts would be shipped to Emmonak and sewer service may return in "a week or more."
"Hopefully not much more," he said. "Otherwise, it will compound into a major disaster."