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Kasilof gas leak explosion kills one, levels home

Elizabeth Earl
/
KDLL
Central Emergency Services.

A home in Kasilof was leveled and its sole occupant killed by a fire this morning, following a gas leak explosion.

Central Emergency Services responded to the home on Lottie Drive, off Kalifornsky Beach Road, around 5:30 this morning, after receiving reports from neighbors of an explosion and fire.

“Witnesses that called it in said they thought they had heard an explosion, so that was the information that was obtained while the fire crews were en route,” Browning said.

The structure was fully collapsed and on fire when crews arrived, according to CES Fire Chief Roy Browning. The only occupant of the house, 69-year-old Stephen Okkonen, was found dead in the home and buried underneath rubble, according to Browning.

Browning said 21 firefighters responded to the scene.

Alaska State Troopers also responded, as did the State Fire Marshalls, who investigated the cause of the fire. Troopers said it was caused by a gas leak, according to a dispatch.

Browning said there was no damage to any surrounding homes, although some trees were on fire when CES arrived, and were quickly extinguished.

Browning said CES responds to about one explosion, or fuel tank rupture, a year.

Riley Board is a Report For America participant and senior reporter at KDLL covering rural communities on the central Kenai Peninsula.
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