1 dead, tenants displaced in Anchorage apartment building fire

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - One person is dead as the result of a fire that engulfed an apartment complex off Tudor Road on Monday evening.

Anchorage Fire Department Capt. Landon Forth confirmed Tuesday that one resident of a 14-unit apartment building in the 4500 block of Wright Street had died, and the Anchorage Fire Department also confirmed the death in a Tuesday afternoon press release.

Firefighters were called to the blaze at the corner of Wright Street and East 46th Avenue around 7:45 p.m. Monday, according to Training Assistant Chief Alex Boyd. He said that when they arrived, heavy smoke was visible from the building. The fire was located at Campbell View Condominiums, which has two buildings in the area. Only one of the buildings was damaged by the fire.

According to the fire department’s release, first responders worked to suppress the blaze while other members of the crew rescued a resident who was entrapped in the building.

“The rescue crew was able to locate the unconscious resident, remove them from the fire area, and begin emergency care,” the release states. “Unfortunately the resident was beyond help and died from their injuries.”

The person’s identity will not be released until their family has been notified. All other residents were able to make it out on their own, Boyd said.

One firefighter also sustained minor injuries, according to Boyd. He declined to comment on the nature of the firefighter’s injuries. The release from AFD states the firefighter was injured “during fire suppression work.”

First responders got the scene in about 3 minutes, according to AFD, and got the fire under control in about an hour, Boyd said. They made a second call for help, so a total of 21 units ended up responding to the scene, he said.

Due to the fire and the damage it caused, Boyd said none of the apartment’s residents will be able to reenter the building, at least for the night. The American Red Cross is housing those displaced residents in a non-congregate shelter, a representative told Alaska’s News Source.

The cause of the fire is unknown and Boyd said it will be under investigation “for some time.”

“The building was heavily damaged by the fire and the uninvolved areas were damaged by water,” the AFD release states.

Crews will continue investigation work Tuesday, according to the department.

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Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional details.