Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information from the Haines Ministerial Association coordinating aid for victims of the fire.
Haines police said Sunday that they were looking for Larry Drake, a tenant in one of the apartments on the second floor of a building that burned to the ground overnight.
They said Drake had been accounted for after the fire started – but they want to interview him.
“He was warming up in a patrol car last night, so we know he’s alive,” said Chief Josh Dryden.
Police sent out a Nixle alert Sunday morning seeking Drake, leading some community members – including three who contacted the Chilkat Valley News – to speculate that he was missing because of the fire. Police followed up with another Nixle just over an hour later saying they found him safe.
Drake is one of at least nine people who lived in the four apartments above Mike Ward’s Quick Shop, Outfitter Liquor, Outfitter Sporting Goods and Mike’s Bikes & Boards.
The building caught fire Saturday evening; it’s not yet clear what caused it. Haines volunteer firefighters, and Klehini Valley volunteer firefighters who also showed up to help, spent all night battling high winds and an old building packed with flammable material like the guns and ammunition sold in Outfitter Sporting Goods.
Owner Mike Ward, who spent the night watching his building and businesses burn, weighed in with firefighters a few times to try and help them understand the layout of the building complex and where materials were located.
Chief Dryden said the fire marshall would be arriving on Monday. Police are investigating the fire’s origins in the meantime.
Elsewhere in the community, organizations like the Haines Ministerial Association, the Salvation Army and friends and family of those who lost their homes in the fire have been working to coordinate aid. A GoFundMe page sprung up overnight but some are looking for different ways to get aid to people in need.
Matt Jones, who is coordinating for the ministerial association, asked the community members to be patient.
“We’ve got our heads together – we’re still piecing that together,” Jones said. “Going to the banks is the ideal situation.”
Jones said the ministerial association is working to coordinate financial help and to find a place to store physical items people want to donate as well. He said his association gave out food and some spending money to the victims of the fire they worked with initially – but they haven’t reached everyone yet and they don’t know the full scope of what people need.
That takes time. “It has not even been 24 hours since the fire started. They need to be able to take a breath,” he said.
On Sunday evening, Jones sent out an update saying that they were still working on the best ways to get aid to the family and there are a few things to know:
- Salvation Army staff are in Anchorage this week and will not be available to receive goods or open the store.
- The Ministerial Association encouraged the families in need to establish accounts at one of the local banks and to clarify what collections are welcome. That is the method the association recommends for getting aid directly to families.
- As a secondary collection point, the Port Chilkoot Bible Church is coordinating donations of cash or or checks. You can also send them to P.O. Box 156, in person or by calling 907-314-2429
- The Port Chilkoot Bible Church is also the spot to drop off items specifically requested by the families and people in need. What they need right now are: Similac Advanced Formula (the blue can), baby snacks for a 1-year-old, size 4 diapers, baby wipes and baby clothes for a 1-year-old. They can be dropped off at the church from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Jones, who is also the chaplain for the fire department and police department, said there’s something of a pattern that plays out when people get caught up in disasters. And, because he’s a pastor, his mind jumps to the Bible to explain it.
“I take it out of First Kings, Chapter 19 … there was a crisis situation and the person that was in crisis called out to God and said ‘I wish you would just take my life, the journey is too much,’” Jones said.
For people who have experienced tragedy, Jones said what he often sees is that for the first 24-48 hours their minds are in shock.
“It becomes so much that their brains can’t actually process it all. ‘I just walked out of that smoky room that I could have died in’,” Jones said.
For those who are directly impacted, Jones suggested slowing down and recognizing that recovery is a journey – that means sleeping, eating, and making sure to surround themselves with people who can help.
“For everyone else, the way that they can help right now is to make sure [the victims] have a place to sleep, letting them rest by leaving them alone sometimes and making sure they’ve got money and means for food,” Jones said.
He said it’s also important to listen and give people a space to process their trauma.
“Because as their minds process that initial fight or flight response and then it’s ‘Ok. I’m alive, my baby is alive, my wife is alive, I can relax a little bit now and then the next step is ok what’s next’,” Jones said. “We’ll as a community walk with them through that.”
Jones said he and others in the ministerial association planned to have instructions on where and how to donate to those in need after the fire by Sunday evening.