Update, 6:15 p.m. Monday: John See, Anchorage Fire Department spokesman, said Monday that unattended cooking led to a fatal fire on Saturday, according to a preliminary investigation. A person who was reportedly trying to put out the fire got caught in the smoke and flames. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, the fire department said in a news release.
See said the fire department never received a 911 call reporting the fire. Instead, medics responding to a nearby address heard an alarm sounding at the apartment building and noticed the black smoke, he said.
"I think the message is, 'Get out of the building. Call 911 just as quickly as you hear the alarm sound,'" See said.
Original story: One man died and dozens were displaced after a fire ripped through an apartment building in East Anchorage around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police and fire officials.
The man's death was directly caused by the fire, said Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Renee Oistad.
A 7:32 a.m. call to dispatch sounded the alarm, according to fire dispatchers. Because of a warning that a person was trapped in the flames, a second alarm was called, and 25 units responded quickly to the fire, Anchorage Fire Department battalion chief Kevin Keene said. He did not have further information about the victim.
Three apartment units were severely damaged by the fire at the 22-unit complex on East 43rd Avenue, according to Keene and David Williams of the Red Cross, who was on the scene. The remaining units have varying degrees of smoke and water damage, Williams said.
"The building is definitely not livable at this point," Keene said, noting that a crew was on hand to secure the building while the Red Cross worked to help the 20 to 30 people who were affected.
Most of the displaced people will be staying with family and friends, and the Red Cross will house about seven people for the night, Williams said.
"As it is a condo complex, most of the folks have some sort of insurance," Williams said. At around 10:30 a.m., fire department personnel were escorting people through the units to gather personal items.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. "We're doing some overhaul, and we're working with our investigator on where the fire started," Keene said.