Roof fire at Ford dealership on Gambell Street

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Anchorage Fire Department was called to extinguish a roof fire at the Kendall Ford of Anchorage on Gambell Street Thursday morning.

The building was evacuated; however, one person was transported to the hospital for “unknown injuries,” according to Ben Simonds, a captain and paramedic with the fire department.

The fire department responded to the fire shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday.

“Units were dispatched to this location and found smoke coming from the middle of the structure,” Simonds said, who noted that the fire was caused by a vending machine in the second-floor breakroom.

Multiple fire department units responded to the fire due to it being a large commercial building.

“We ended up with four engine companies, two ladders and a heavy rescue, plus several other support vehicles,” Simonds said. “It’s not uncommon to need at least that many and or more for a building of this size or type.”

Fire crews managed to isolate the fire to the breakroom and eventually extinguished it.

“Sprinklers were able to confine the fire to the breakroom,” Simonds said. “Which shows a really good reason why sprinklers are effective and why we should have them.”

Simonds also noted that there was water damage to the building.

The fire department is now investigating the cause of the fire, according to Simonds.

This is a developing story. Check in for updates.

Editor’s note: This story had been updated. And reporting for this story was gathered by Alaska’s News Source Photojournalist Mike Nederbrock.