More is now known about the extent of the damage from the fire that burned on May 26 at the Akiuk Memorial School campus in Kasigluk. The fire did not damage the school building. However, three other school structures were destroyed.
Lower Kuskokwim School District Superintendent Kimberly Hankins visited the Akiuk Memorial School the day after the fire on May 27. In an email to KYUK, she wrote that the three buildings that burned included a teacher housing unit, an old utility building and the school’s current utility building. All three structures were completely destroyed. Pictures from the site show collapsed, charred remains.
Hankins said that the teacher who had been living in the now destroyed housing unit had already moved out of the building before the fire began. The semester ended last week, and many teachers had left the village for summer break.
Though the school building itself stands undamaged, Hankins said that she could smell smoke inside the school gym and kitchen. Both are located near the utility building that burned.
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Anna Rose MacArthur is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
