A fire in the village of Emmonak destroyed five commercial buildings and caused an estimated $3 million in damages over the weekend.
According to a report filed by the Alaska State Troopers, the local troopers and the Village Public Safety Officer were called just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Smoke was seen billowing out of the Kwik’Pak Fisheries warehouse. Kwik’Pak is a commercial fisheries business and the village’s largest employer.
According to the report, efforts to put out the fire were unsuccessful due to “failed and inoperable equipment.” The fire spread rapidly, destroying three Kwik’Pak Fisheries buildings. It also engulfed and destroyed two buildings belonging to Yukon Marine Manufacturing, a local boat-building business. When the trooper report was filed more than 24 hours after the incident, the fire was still burning. No injuries were reported and no foul play is suspected. Damage to all five commercial buildings is currently estimated at $3 million.
Emily Russell is the voice of Alaska morning news as Alaska Public Media’s Morning News Host and Producer.
Originally from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Emily moved to Alaska in 2012. She skied her way through three winters in Fairbanks, earning her Master’s degree in Northern Studies from UAF.
Emily’s career in radio started in Nome in 2015, reporting for KNOM on everything from subsistence whale harvests to housing shortages in Native villages. She then worked for KCAW in Sitka, finally seeing what all the fuss with Southeast, Alaska was all about.
Back on the road system, Emily is looking forward to driving her Subaru around the region to hike, hunt, fish and pick as many berries as possible. When she’s not talking into the mic in the morning, Emily can be found reporting from the peaks above Anchorage to the rivers around Southcentral.
