A fire broke out in Shishmaref late in the evening Tuesday, July 30, causing one residence to be destroyed. Despite winds in excess of 30 mph, the village of nearly 600 people appears to have been successful in stopping the spread of the fire to other nearby buildings.
The fire began around 9 p.m. As smoke rose from the residence, locals flocked to the scene to provide support. People could be seen racing to fill up large plastic waste containers with water and loading them in carts to help extinguish the fire.
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) mobilized to Shishmaref and arrived around 11:00 p.m. The blaze had mostly been extinguished by the time they arrived. A Facebook Live stream at 2:00 a.m. appeared to show NVFD putting out remaining hotspots in the debris created by the fire.
According to eyewitness Ken Stenek, it’s a miracle the fire didn’t spread to more buildings.
“Truly a story of community members coming together to do what needed to be done,” Stenek said. “I really thought we would lose more homes because of these 30 mph winds.”
The cause of the fire has not been determined. This story will be updated as we learn more.
