Fast-moving fire destroys school and other buildings in Stebbins

A fire destroyed the school and several other buildings in the Western Alaska village of Stebbins on Wednesday night, prompting the governor to issue a disaster declaration.

No injuries or deaths were reported, Alaska State Troopers said. The State Fire Marshal’s Office on Thursday was investigating the cause of the fire.

A building caught fire around 6:45 p.m. and the flames spread to at least five other buildings including the Tukurngailnguq School, troopers said. A trooper was in the village when the fire started and, with community members, tried to stop it from spreading, spokesman Austin McDaniel said. Six Nome volunteer firefighters also arrived in Stebbins to support efforts to extinguish the blaze, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

Along with the school, half of the school’s teacher housing, the shop and portable buildings were also destroyed, Bering Strait School District Superintendent Tammy Dodd wrote in a statement. State emergency officials said that the fire started in the school’s boiler room and destroyed up to 10 school district structures total.

Dodd described the fire as a “moment of profound loss and grief for the entire community, district, and region.”

School officials were in Stebbins on Thursday to assess the damage and meet with community leaders, she said.

“BSSD is committed to rebuilding our school and ensuring that our students’ education continues with as minimal disruption as possible, but it will look different,” Dodd wrote. “Temporary classrooms and online learning options are a few of the possibilities being discussed, and the leadership team will work on a detailed plan for the reconstruction of the school.”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday declared a state disaster emergency, which activates Alaska’s Public Assistance Disaster Recovery Program and opens up funds for emergency response efforts, according to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Kawerak, the regional nonprofit tribal consortium, is providing assistance to Stebbins and a task force will coordinate other community support efforts, state emergency officials said.

Stebbins is roughly 120 miles southeast of Nome and home to more than 600 people. Roughly 230 students were enrolled at the school, according to the district’s website.

There is no fire department in the village.

A fire in November 2022 destroyed the village’s grocery store and fuel facility. Stebbins was one of numerous communities damaged by flooding after the remnants of Typhoon Merbok battered Western Alaska in September 2022.