A house fire in Ketchikan Sunday morning left one person dead and another critically injured.
Ketchikan Fire Chief Rick Hines said the neighbors in the apartment upstairs from the fire noticed smoke and called for help around 8:30 AM.
When firefighters arrived on scene, Hines said they found light smoke coming out of the building and a small indoor fire that was easily extinguished. Crews transported the two victims inside to PeaceHealth Medical Center, where one was pronounced dead. The second victim was medevacked to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.
Hines said both victims, who were a couple, were harmed not by the flames in their home but by inhaling the smoke.
“Most, when I generalize fire victims across the United States, it is from smoke inhalation,” Hines said.