FAIRBANKS — A Fairbanks business has been destroyed by a fast-burning fire.
The building, which was leased by the Alaska RV Center for use as a shop, erupted into flames Wednesday night. No injuries were reported.
University Fire Battalion Chief Greg Coon said crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the structure. They worked all night to extinguish the blaze, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
“It was 100 percent filled with heavy smoke on all sides and there was heavy fire on the left side of the building,” Coon said. “It was a huge fire by the time we got there.”
The incident comes less than two weeks after another building caught fire only a half mile away from the RV Center’s building. The main structure at the Fairbanks park that hosts the annual world ice art championships was destroyed in the Dec. 16 fire.
Deputy fire marshal Kyle Carrington said there is no connection between the two blazes.
“Regarding Ice Alaska, we did finalize our investigation last week and it was boiler related. Obviously we do have the proximity, but right now everything we have says that was accidental, boiler-related and nothing that we’re investigating criminally,” Carrington said.
The RV shop fire is believed to have started in a separate business located at the back of the building, Carrington said. He also confirmed that several small propane tanks exploded during the blaze.
Alaska RV Center owner Larry Ray said he leases the building and rents out the back section to a man who owns a pilot car business.
Ray said his son, who lives in the main office building, had been in the shop shortly before the fire was reported but that he didn’t notice anything unusual.
“He had been over and checked — which he does, that’s why he’s here — and everything was fine,” Ray said. “He came over about 15 minutes later when he heard all the sirens. It happened that fast.”
