Hooper Bay, Alaska – 08-03-06

This small mostly native village in western Alaska had its own “Katrina” disaster today as a fire swept through this Cup'ik Eskimo village, about 500 miles west of Anchorage.

I have several projects going on in Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay so this was sad news for me. There is a feeling of frustration from my friends there as the lack of necessary basic fire fighting equipment or personnel in this village could possibly have made a difference. Hooper Bay's remoteness left people little choice but to stand back and watch the tragedy unfold.









The early response was 7 people on 4 wheel ATV’s (the normal transportation there) pulling a small trailer with a water tank. The pump was inoperable so that left them with 4 fire extinguishers to try to put out the fire that had just started.

At last report, over 20 structures had burned to the ground including the old school (where the fire started possibly from kids playing), a store, several teacher houses, and about one forth (1/4) of the towns homes.









There were fuel storage tanks close-by (see Troopers photos) but luckily the fire was stopped before getting those involved. There could be heard small explosions from the homes as gas and smaller fuel tanks exploded in the fire.










Fire fighters and equipment were sent from other villages in this remote area but took several hours before arriving to knock down the flames. About 250 of the town’s 1100 people were without homes or shelter for the night and the Red Cross was on their way to assist those affected by the fire.


See linked stories for additional details.

KTUU Channel 2 TV link

Anchorage Daily News link


Ice

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