Fatal fire burns cabin on same property where Mat-Su wildfire originated

Across the state, more than 100 wildfires are burning with major impacts near Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Tok, Tustumena Lake, and Montana Creek
Published: Jul. 2, 2024 at 6:05 PM AKDT

TALKEETNA, Alaska (KTUU) - One person is dead after an early-morning fire burned a cabin on the same property where authorities say last weekend’s Montana Creek wildfire began.

Alaska State Troopers clarified to Alaska’s New Source that Tuesday’s fire investigation is unrelated to the investigation into how the wildfire started on Saturday, but that a vehicle on the same property sparked the wildfire.

Officials confirmed Tuesday that the Montana Creek fire, which was last reported as being 174 acres in size and 40% contained, was human-caused.

The wildfire was first reported around 3:15 p.m. on June 29 around milepost 95 of the Parks Highway, roughly five miles south of the Talkeetna turnoff.

Troopers said that the residential fire Tuesday was reported on South Dog Sled Drive, the area where the wildfire was located.

A map shows the extend of the Montana Creek Fire on July 2, 2024.
A map shows the extend of the Montana Creek Fire on July 2, 2024.(Joseph Klecka | Screenshot taken from Alaska Interagency Coordination Center)

Troopers said the victim of the structure fire is not yet known, but that they were alone in a cabin that was being built on the property by another individual.

The second person was living in an RV on the property where the cabin was being built, and the victim of the fire was in the cabin at the time of the fire, which troopers said they responded to at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday when the RV occupant “heard crackling sounds and look out and saw the shack/cabin on fire and called 911.”