‘Empathy the whole way’: 5 teens badly burned at Kodiak bonfire recovering in Anchorage

Five Kodiak teenagers who were burned in an explosion at a beach bonfire early Sunday are receiving care in Anchorage with injuries severe enough that some are expected to need several weeks of hospitalization.

Authorities say the explosion occurred after someone threw a 50-gallon fuel drum into the fire at a large party at White Sands Beach. Alaska State Troopers arrested a teenage boy in connection with the incident, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The beach is a popular recreational and party spot about 11 miles from Kodiak along Monashka Bay. Troopers estimated the crowd early Sunday at 20 to 40 people, all of them high school age. Eight were injured badly enough to require hospital care, including the five flown by medical airlift to Anchorage and three who received treatment in Kodiak, according to troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel.

Cyndy Mika, superintendent of the Kodiak Island Borough School District, said additional students might show up at school this week with burns or needing support from the trauma of witnessing the injuries around them.

As students returned from the long weekend on Tuesday, Mika said school officials were taking special care, adding medical supplies at the nurse’s office, putting sanitizer in classrooms, and making sure there were providers on call from Providence and the Kodiak Area Native Association.

“We have to have empathy the whole way on both sides of the issue. We’ve got to take care of each other, and we’ve got to come together as a community,” she said. “The other message to students is don’t be afraid to call 911 when something happens.”

Troopers, who were notified about the explosion just before 1:15 a.m. Sunday, received multiple 911 calls, McDaniel said.

The families of four of the five hospitalized teens have posted GoFundMe accounts to help defray medical expenses. At least two families expect three weeks or more of hospital care due to the severity of their burns.

Kavik Wolfe was brought first to the Kodiak hospital and then medical airlifted to Anchorage on Sunday afternoon, Becky Gomez, a family friend, said in an interview Monday. He was in a lot of pain, she said.

Gomez said the family was told to plan to stay at least a month in Anchorage.

Cynthia Vazquez said her daughter, Mia, suffered second-degree burns to her face, arms, hands and legs, according to her GoFundMe post. The family has been told that Mia Vazquez will need to stay in Anchorage for “no less than three weeks,” she wrote.

Two other Kodiak teens hospitalized in Anchorage include a boy with severe burns on his hands and body, and a 16-year-old girl with second-degree burns on hands, wrists, face and scalp, according to a GoFundMe post from her family. They expect multiple trips between Kodiak and Anchorage for future care “as well as therapy to help regain strength and full mobility in her hands.”

The case is being handled by state juvenile justice authorities. McDaniel said Tuesday that he was not aware of any adult criminal charges being filed. The Kodiak District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a message left Tuesday.

The boy has not been identified. Juvenile justice proceedings are largely confidential.

McDaniel said troopers believe the group may have used fuel from the drum to start the fire but said he didn’t know what type of fuel was used or how much was in the drum when it caused the explosion.

“I do hope that parents are speaking with their teenage students not just in Kodiak but across the state to use this tragic event, where thankfully nobody has died, as a reminder that actions have very, very, very serious consequences,” he said.

Daily News reporter Tess Williams contributed.