FBI releasing few details about ‘ongoing investigation’ near downtown Anchorage amid reports of explosions

A federal investigation in a neighborhood near downtown Anchorage Monday drew questions from onlookers but officials wouldn’t provide any information about the nature of the situation.

There was no threat to public safety, an FBI spokeswoman said Monday afternoon.

At least eight people wearing what looked like white hazmat suits could be seen in the area of 13th Avenue and Karluk Street in the Fairview neighborhood on Monday afternoon. Crime-scene tape blocked access to parts of 13th Avenue.

A number of people living in the neighborhood, including one a few blocks away, reported hearing an extremely loud explosion in the area early Saturday. At least two said they had heard explosions for months.

Anchorage police officers responded to the area Sunday morning, according to police spokeswoman Renee Oistad. 

“Nothing was found,” Oistad wrote in an email Tuesday morning. “One person stated they saw large fireworks being set off.”

She asked any neighbors with “evidence of something else occurring” to call APD dispatch and request an officer respond.

An FBI spokeswoman contacted by the Daily News declined to answer any questions about the investigation.

“With assistance from Anchorage Police Department, the FBI Anchorage Field Office deployed its evidence response team in connection with an ongoing federal investigation,” FBI spokeswoman Chloe Martin wrote in an email. “There is no threat to public safety at this time.”

A police spokeswoman referred any questions to the FBI.

— ADN photojournalist Loren Holmes contributed to this story.