Cause of Naukati shelter fire identified

Alaska State Troopers have identified the source of a fire that destroyed a community shelter in Naukati on May 20^th.

Troopers had classified the fire as suspicious. Since then, witnesses reported that a fire pit in the three-sided wood structure had been used earlier in the day.

In their online dispatch, Troopers report that the people who used it thought they had extinguished the fire, but there still were some embers burning that eventually caught the wooden portion of the unoccupied shelter on fire.

The shelter was completely destroyed in the blaze. The estimated loss is $10,000. Troopers report that the community plans on rebuilding the structure.