Copyright Anchorage Daily News
The Caribou Hotel in Glennallen was engulfed in flames on Wednesday morning as a fire consumed what appeared to be most of the structure. Alaska State Troopers and local firefighters battled a quick-moving fire that “fully engulfed” the hotel after receiving a report of smoke at the building around 8:10 a.m., the state Department of Public Safety said in an online statement. Everyone inside the building had safely evacuated, troopers said. First responders continued to work on extinguishing the fire late Wednesday morning. Pictures of the blaze posted on social media showed the hotel consumed by flames as plumes of dark smoke billowed upward. “It’s all gone,” Justin Kinzer, an employee at the Copper River Auto Parts NAPA store, said of the neighboring hotel. The fire damaged at least five vehicles, according to troopers. Cynthia Buchanan, who owns the Rustic Resort B&B near the Caribou, said the business is preparing rooms for displaced hotel guests. It’s unclear what sparked the blaze. Troopers said a deputy fire marshal was traveling to the scene to investigate. GlennRich Fire Rescue and the Gakona and Kenny Lake volunteer fire departments also responded to the scene. A fire in 2010 destroyed an annex building and some vehicles at the hotel.
