Fire destroys three buildings in Savoonga

By Diana Haecker
Three old school buildings in Savoonga were destroyed by a fire on Thursday, Feb. 2. According to Savoonga Village Police Officer and Police Chief Michael Wongittillin, he received a call shortly after 4 p.m. with reports of a big black plume coming out of one of the buildings. The building was not actively used, but functioned as temporary quarantine housing for teachers returning to Savoonga. For the lack of a fire department, VPOs, the VPSO Nick Toolie, school maintenance workers and the whole community came together to respond to the fire. Wongittillin said they managed to run three lines of water hoses, connecting several 100-ft hoses from fire hydrants to douse the flames, but were not able to fight the fire from inside the buildings due to a lack of proper breathing apparatuses and turnout gear. The fire spread to the two adjacent older school buildings, also not in active use. “We heard that there was a teacher in one of the buildings and VPO Timothy Gologergen ran into the east structure to do a sweep,” Wongittillin said. Nobody was in the building and the person that they were looking for was accounted for.
It took nine and a half hours, from about 4:20 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. to put out the fire. In addition to the water hoses, a dozer was used to smother the flames by controlled collapsing the buildings. Wongittillin said the buildings were over 40 years old and full of lead and asbestos. As many in the community came to help put out the fire, he said, 144 people had to be treated in the clinic for smoke inhalation.
Wongittillin said that only law enforcement is trained in firefighting techniques and a functioning fire department has not been in the community for about 15 years. He said he had been advocating for years to reestablish a proper fire department and will renew his efforts to make the case.
Alaska State Trooper Sgt. Aileen Witrosky said that the cause of the fire is not determined yet, but that a diesel-powered large space heater was used to thaw out pipes in the building.
Nome Volunteer Fire Department has offered help, but Savoonga had the situation already under control and didn’t need further assistance.
When asked what the community needs after the fire, Wongittillin said: bottled drinking water. They used a good amount of water from their water tanks and it would take about a week to replenish the water level in the tanks to be pumped from their water source.