State fire investigators found human remains Saturday in a house on McCarthy Road that burned down on Christmas Day.
Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch posted Monday that the remains were sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office for identification. Troopers said in a dispatch posted Friday that the person was “unaccounted for.”
Troopers updated the dispatch Monday afternoon and identified the person who died in the fire as 60-year-old Maria Cellarius.
The dispatch said an adult male at the scene sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the fire and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
A Trooper spokesperson said Monday that the house was located near McCarthy Road milepost 27. That’s about halfway between Chitina and McCarthy on the Edgerton Highway, south of Copper Center.
Glennallen-based Troopers say they got a report just after 2 a.m. Thursday of a structure fire on McCarthy Road, located about 100 miles south of Glennallen off the Richardson and Edgerton highways.
Troopers say by the time they got to the scene, the structure had been consumed by fire. Investigators from the state Fire Marshal’s Office say the house is a total loss.
The spokesperson said the investigators are now trying to determine how and where the fire started.
