Fire

According to an Alaska State Trooper’s dispatch, the cause of the fire is unknown. The person has not been positively identified yet, but local responders searched and were unable to account for 35-year-old Selawik resident Lester Hingsbergen.

According to an online dispatch troopers, deputy state fire marshals and village public safety officers responded Wednesday to reports of a fire in Noorvik, a community of about 650 people roughly 45 miles east of Kotzebue. The remains of six individuals were found at the scene.

According to the release, KFD responded to a second fire on Otter Street on Wednesday around 9 AM. Firefighters extinguished a blaze in an abandoned house. The cause of that fire is also unknown and under investigation.

A restaurant in Kotzebue is likely a total loss after a blaze Thursday morning.

Kaktovik’s mayor says the first priority is restoring a sense of normalcy for the students as they resume classes. The community plans to rebuild the school, but the timeline is still unknown.

The North Slope Borough mayor says there were no injuries to report as of Friday morning. He says the weather, which dipped to -35 degrees, has made fighting the fire difficult for first responders.