A fire in downtown Skagway destroyed a large building on Sunday that was important to the community. No one was injured, but the building and all it contained was lost.
The fire took all day and night to extinguish.
An emergency call came into the Skagway fire department just before 10 a.m. Sunday morning. It reported a “big fire, black smoke and flames” near 9th avenue between Broadway and State. f. According to a statement issued by the department, about half the building was engulfed in flames by the time responders arrived at the scene.
The crews on site connected their trucks to hydrants, doused the fire, and prevented its spread to adjacent residences. Due to a strong North wind, the crews were unable to stage on the South side of the building. Homes there were evacuated.
The building, known locally as the packer building, is a large structure. Fighting the fire took many people and many hours, according to Borough Manager Brad Ryan who was on site.
Ryan: “We had three trucks out there, three engines, we had pretty much all of our paid firefighter personnel out there, ads well as several volunteer firefighters, there was probably maybe eight to ten in actual turnout gear firefighters, then there were two police officers that showed up, several public works employees helped manage lines, water, excavator to take the building down, and then just citizen volunteers helping keep people healthy, and pull hoses when they were out of the scene.”
The crews fought the fire all day. By late afternoon it was mostly extinguished, except for some hotspots that they continued to work on. The crews used heavy equipment to take down the remnants of the structure. Ryan says around 8pm the crews installed sprinklers to control the smoldering rubble. They worked in shifts throughout the night, monitoring it.
The packer building is a total loss. It had served many purposes. It housed the Skagway Development Corporation, a business incubator for the town. A construction company, Hanson General Contracting, and a longtime guiding operation, Packer Expedition. The state court also rented a space there.
Emily Wright is the area court administrator, and she spoke with KHNS about how the court system has already reorganized to keep functioning.
Wright: “We’ve routed everything over to Haines, our Haines clerk of court will be handling all filings, we were able to switch over the phone numbers, they can still call Skagway, it will route right over to Haines. They can do everything electronically.”
Wright says no documents have been lost.
Wright: “The really nice thing is we had switched over to an e-filing system, so all of our files are electronic and they were backed up on Saturday night. So that’s a good thing. So at this point, other than people not having a building to go to, there is no disruption in services.”
Tim Bourcy owned Packer Expedition, the guiding company that gave the building its local name. He was having breakfast with friends when he learned the business he has run for 30 years was going up in flames. He lost all the gear he needed to run his tours.
Bourcy: “There is a lot of material there. It’s backpacking equipment, tents, sleeping bags, there’s a full commercial kitchen, there is rain gear, med kits, I mean it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gear. No, this is a business ending endeavor”
Bourcy says he will not rebuild the business.
Bourcy: “You know what, I could, but I’m sixty, and I’m not doing it again.”
He says he is uplifted by the support he got.
Bourcy: “I mean come on, Skagway’s community is amazing, all the firefighters, everyone that worked on that is amazing so yeah, it’s all good.”
Orion Hanson is the owner of Hanson General Contracting, and he also lost much of his business.
Hanson: “I got about thirty calls in about two minutes yesterday morning.”
He rented shop space in the building.
Hanson: “That area of that building was built by the army, to my knowledge it’s always been a shop of some sort, and many many carpenters and mechanics operated out of there since world war two.”
He says enough of his tools were staged at various worksites around town that he is able to continue operating. On Monday he gathered his crew.
Hanson: “we met like we normally do on a Monday, and we stepped beyond the fire protection zone and looked at it. And I looked at my team and said ‘Well guys let’s go to work. Be safe.” In terms of having a company with skilled people and work to do, we’ve got work to do. So I’ll figure out how to rebuild and go on. But I’m still trying to figure out just what was lost really.”
In the statement put out by Skagway Fire, Chief Emily Rauscher says that on Tuesday, state’s fire marshal will inspect the site to determine the cause of fire.
She also says the community support was truly exceptional. Residents showed up and provided food and drink during the fire. They helped with hose lines. Then they got together to clean up after the fire was put out.