A Downtown Fire

49 UNITS AT PARK PLACE ARE TOAST; CLEAN UP AND REBUILD WILL TAKE MONTHS: A huge fire apparently caused by a plumber’s torch inside a Park Place condominium took Anchorage firefighters several hours to bring under control Tuesday afternoon. There are no reports of injuries to residents of the building, although most of the 49 units were either destroyed by fire or heavily damaged by smoke and water. Dozens of residents of the Park Place condominiums are now homeless and the cost of rebuilding their units could easily exceed $10M.

Downtown residents quickly learned about 3:20 p.m. that something was terribly wrong in the neighborhood when dense clouds of black smoke poured out of the north building of the project and then, propelled by 45 mph winds, headed skyward, covering first the Pioneer’s home on 11th Ave. and then later, the entire downtown area from I St. to the inlet. Firefighters from several stations responded to the blaze as well as dozens of police for crowd and traffic control.

As of Wednesday afternoon, contractors were erecting a security fence around the charred building and residents were allowed to removed valuables from some of the units. Obviously, a large clean up job and the even larger task of rebuilding the units is now ahead.

TESCHE REPORT LIVE ON KUDO AM MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS AT 4:30 P.M: Monday, June 11, 2007 marks the first day an expanded radio version of the Tesche Report will be heard on Anchorage talk radio, KUDO 1080 AM. Broadcasting live on Mondays and Wednesdays, the show is intended to bracket Tuesday Assembly meetings, giving listeners an opportunity to preview the action at the Loussac the day before and to recap the action on the day after each Assembly meeting. The show is co hosted by progressive radio personality Aaron Selbig and gives listeners a chance to sound off on virtually anything to do with the Anchorage Assembly. To reach Allan Tesche during the radio show on Mondays and Wednesdays, call in at 569-1080. A live internet broadcast of the show is also available at KUDO1080.com