Dozens of people displaced by a fire Thursday in the Mountain View neighborhood of Anchorage will sleep at a shelter tonight.
The fire burned a 38-unit apartment building, which is a total loss.
Sixteen-year-old Sarah Mesik returned to Glynwood Manor with her parents to see if they could salvage anything from their former home, but fire officials wouldn’t let them in. Mesik says her family of 10 had lived in the apartment since May when they moved to Anchorage. With five kids in school, Mesik says, they need clothes and school supplies.
“I feel really bummed because I have a lot of school supplies inside, especially clothing,” Mesik said. “Because it’s very cold in the shelter, but we’re still hoping for the best and hopefully everything will turn out good for everybody who lives here, in Mountain View.”
Fire officials say flames spread quickly through the 38-unit apartment complex. It was built in 1963. The building is still standing, but officials say it’s a total loss.
Laura Spano is a spokesperson for the Red Cross of Alaska. She says 37 people displaced by the fire stayed at a shelter at the Fairview Recreation Center Thursday night.
“Everybody is without a home right now,” Spano said. “So we’ve opened the shelter to make sure that we get everybody’s immediate needs taken care of and work to give them referrals for long-term housing and long-term care.”
“In any disaster like this, almost everything in your home has been lost so we’re gong to provide assistance for them to be able to replace their clothing and those basic necessities.”
Spano says the shelter will remain open through the weekend.
The best way to help the victims of the fire, she says, is to make a donation to the Red Cross of Alaska.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
