2 families displaced after fire destroys West Anchorage duplex

A fire that raged early Monday morning at a duplex in Anchorage’s Turnagain neighborhood displaced six people, fire officials said Tuesday.

The burning home on the 3000 block of Seppala Drive, off of West Northern Lights Boulevard, was reported to the Anchorage Fire Department at 1:20 a.m. Monday, Assistant Fire Chief Erich Scheunemann said.

By the time firefighters responded to the ranch-style duplex five minutes later, the home was already halfway engulfed and the duplex’s six occupants were all outside, he said.

Within two minutes of firefighters arriving at the scene, the home was more than 70 percent engulfed, Scheunemann said. Thirteen firefighting units brought the flames under control just before 2:30 a.m., but the home was a total loss, he said.

By Tuesday, the cause of the fire was still unknown, Scheunemann said.

Two families lived in the duplex, the Red Cross of Alaska said on Twitter, and volunteers gave them financial and housing assistance along with packages of hygiene essentials.

Joan Jackson, a neighbor who lives across the street from the duplex that burned, said one side of the duplex housed a married couple, and a mother with three children lived on the other side. She has known them both for at least nine years, she said.

Attempts to contact residents of the duplex were unsuccessful Tuesday.