A deadly fire early Friday that burned much of the Mountain Village Police Department was likely started with a lighter from within a holding cell at the facility, according to a dispatch from the Alaska State Troopers.
One of two men being held in the building, Mountain Village resident Lawrence Chiklak, who had just turned 39 years old the day prior, died as a result of the fire. The other man being held was safely evacuated and has not been identified. Troopers have not said which of the two men may have started the fire.
A local village police officer was sent to Bethel to be treated for minor injuries following the incident, according to troopers.
Troopers said that the fire caused significant damage to roughly two-thirds of the Mountain Village Police Department building, which serves as the main public safety building for the lower Yukon River community of around 800 people.
Troopers said that village police officers were holding both men at the time of the incident under Title 47, an Alaska statute that allows for people considered a danger to themselves or others to be detained by law enforcement or emergency service personnel under certain circumstances.
Chiklak’s next of kin have been notified and his body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy.