Anchorage

Fire destroys Dungeon of Doom carnival attraction in Anchorage

The charred heap of an attraction that once entertained audiences at the Alaska State Fair is the latest victim of a blaze in Anchorage, but fire officials aren’t pointing their fingers at arson.

“Not at this point,” Jodie Hettrick, chief of the Anchorage Fire Department, said Monday.

The Dungeon of Doom, a haunted house attraction, burned in the parking lot of the American Legion Jack Henry Post 1, near the intersection of Fireweed Lane and Arctic Boulevard. The fire department was alerted to the fire shortly after 1 a.m., and 11 vehicles responded.

“We don’t have cause or origin (of the fire),” Hettrick said. “We got on scene and it was pretty much fully engulfed.”

The attraction was on a trailer that had been parked in the parking lot. The burned wood-and-metal framing sat above the ash-covered snow Monday.

Officials with the American Legion post could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Hettrick said the Speedy Glass building next door may have been damaged from the fire’s heat. There were no reports of injuries.

ADVERTISEMENT

The fire temporarily shut down traffic at the intersection, but it was reopened shortly after 3 a.m.

Investigators suspect arson in two different fires at restaurants in the same building on Tudor Road near Midtown Anchorage early this month, at Noodle World and the Yakitori Sushi House, Hettrick said.

[Police identify arson suspect seen fleeing Anchorage sushi restaurant fire]

Arson is also suspected in January at a huge fire that destroyed an under-construction Courtyard by Marriott hotel, on A Street between Tudor Road and International Airport Road.

Federal investigators are helping look into that fire after the blaze caused an estimated $20 million in damage.

Alex DeMarban

Alex DeMarban is a longtime Alaska journalist who covers business, the oil and gas industries and general assignments. Reach him at 907-257-4317 or alex@adn.com.

ADVERTISEMENT