Motive unclear in suspected arson fire that destroyed Cantwell Lodge

Josh Terry and two other Cantwell Lodge employees had just gotten to their rooms early Sunday when the manager smelled smoke.

Terry walked outside and heard popping and crackling: a fire was ripping through the crawlspace of the long, narrow building. The smoke he'd smelled had oozed from an unfinished project that left a vent open.

"I said, 'We got one trip! Grab what you think is important!!'" he recalled by phone Monday.

The three lost everything they didn't fetch right away.

Jayson Kapfer, a 33-year-old Spokane man was charged Sunday with starting the fire, Alaska State Troopers say.

The fire destroyed all 20 of the lodging units at the hotel that sits at the western end of the Denali Highway.

The lodge hadn't opened for the season yet, so the three employees getting it ready were the only people on site. None were hurt.

But lodge owner Armeda Bulard also hadn't activated the fire insurance policy yet, according to Terry and a gofundme site set up by friends. The hotel's replacement value is estimated at $360,000.

The 20 units destroyed by the fire were fashioned from Atco-style trailer buildings lined up on either side of a connecting hallway.

Crews from the Cantwell, McKinley and Tri-Valley volunteer fire departments "put a lot of water on the bunkhouse fire," said Marge Nord, ambulance supervisor and firefighter with the Cantwell Volunteer Fire Department.

That helped protect the nearby lodge — it holds a cafe and the Longhorn Saloon bar — from the flames.

Firefighters noticed two vehicles with slashed tires in the parking lot, Nord said. "So that's when we contacted the troopers."

Kapfer had moved to Alaska and worked very briefly at a grocery store in Healy, 40 miles north of Cantwell up the Parks Highway.

He remained jailed at Fairbanks Correctional Center on charges of first-degree arson, a felony that reflects "danger of serious injury," along with felony and misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief.

Kapfer stopped over at the lodge frequently in the past few weeks, Terry said, describing him as a friend of one of the lodge employees and someone who came up "trying to get a job and get going here in Alaska."

Kapfer crashed there several times, the manager said. He'd do odd jobs like sweeping to earn his keep.

Terry said he had no clue why Kapfer would want to start the fire. Kapfer had been drinking when the trio got done with work but didn't seem angry.

"He even just said, 'Monday I'm yours,'" Terry said.