Robert Nelson and his wife, Helena Fix-Nelson, surveyed what remained of their home in Tok on Wednesday morning. It’s where they built a life for almost 20 years, raising kids, grandkids, dogs and bees. Robert Nelson called it a “kick in the gut.”
“There's where my bees sat, and all the clover we planted. Some of her trees survived, some didn't,” he said. “It was beautiful and green.”
Now their home is a heap of cinders and twisted metal. The Nelsons said they couldn’t make sense of what burned and what didn’t. The fire began just a few blocks away and tore through in a matter of hours, skipping over some cars and houses while incinerating others. The Nelson’s greenhouse survived, healthy squash flowers blooming and tomatoes still hanging on the vine.
“Our delphiniums are still kicking,” Robert Nelson said. “Our carrots did okay. Our potatoes over there are a little crispy.”
State fire officials say a downed power line sparked the Mukluk Fire on Monday. Since then, the fire has damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes and burned about 8 square miles around the eastern Interior Alaska community. On Wednesday afternoon, more than 150 firefighters were working the fire, which is at about 16% containment.
A wall of noxious white smoke hung over the town. On the north side of the highway, you didn’t have to go far down any of Tok’s gravel roads before you could see trees that were still on fire, rows of burned-out vehicles, and scorched water tanks that were the only clue a house had been there.
Rob Allen is the state’s Fire Management Officer for the Northern Region. At a community meeting on Tuesday, he said personnel were still trying to survey the damage.
“Right now, we've been too busy trying to save the structures that are still there to get a good count on what has happened inside that footprint,” he said. “All our focus has been trying to keep those homes that are still in there protected.”
Officials also told residents that more personnel are on their way, including fire crews from Canada. They said the forecast will bring cooler temperatures, but also a chance of lightning strikes, which could spark more fires.
They also said evacuation orders could change in the coming days, depending on how the fire behaves. Residents should be prepared to get up and go.
83-year-old Tok resident George Koulas said he spent the first night banging on the doors of his neighbors, who didn’t know it was time to leave.
“They got to have an alarm that alerts everybody in this town that something is going on,” he said. “I know some people that don't have phones. How else are they going to know?”
Last year, Koulas lost his home, his dogs, and his 46-year-old son in a house fire. He said the Mukluk Fire brought those memories back.
“You never know how many friends you have until something happens that's bad. They helped me. I had to help them,” he said.
Koulas is one of many community members processing an uncontrollable situation in the only ways they can.
Pae Brigner runs the Soho Thai Takeaway and Cafe. It’s shut down now because it’s in the evacuation zone. She said she’s haunted by the sound of propane tanks exploding at her neighbor’s houses as they burned.
“You see the flame, then one by one by one — popping,” she said.
But she’s found a distraction through her vocation. Behind a tower of styrofoam containers, she and her friends were cooking up a mountain of comfort food for firefighters and evacuees.
Help is also pouring in from outside. Almost too much, according to emergency officials, who cautioned that the small community could become overwhelmed by unrequested donations. Instead, they’re asking would-be donors to wait until local organizations and emergency management partners have shared specific needs.