Two men dead after early morning house fire

Update | 1:27 p.m.

The Juneau Police Department now says two men found in the home are dead.

In a news release, police say the men are foreign nationals as identified by a survivor. Next of kin notifications to relatives outside of the country are pending.

Police say a total of seven people were in the building at the time of the fire. Of the remaining five, two made it out uninjured and three were transported to the hospital.

Additionally, four firefighters were treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation and exhaustion. As of noon, three of the four firefighters were cleared.

Jeremy Hsieh

Original story | 9:44 a.m.

Three people hurt in house fire, cause under investigation

At least three people were hurt early Sunday morning after a house fire in downtown Juneau.

Assistant Chief Tod Chambers of Capital City Fire/Rescue said two people were transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital with CPR in progress. A third person suffered from lacerations.

A Juneau Police Department news release that a 911 call reporting the fire at 526 Seward Street, adjacent to the Terry Miller Legislative Office Building, was placed at 4:14 a.m.

One witness, who only identified himself as a nearby Franklin Street resident, said he heard a woman scream from the third floor of the house. He said the woman escaped the fire by crawling out on the roof ledge and then jumping down to the roof of the house’s enclosed porch where a ladder had been placed.

For at least two hours after initially responding to the fire, firefighters worked to find hot spots and put out the fire that remained inside the walls and the roof, largely on the third floor and upper part of the second floor on the west side of the house.

Chambers said personnel and vehicles from the downtown and valley fire stations responded to the fire.

As of 7 a.m. Sunday, Fire Marshal Dan Jager was still waiting for firefighters to finish before entering the structure and begin his investigation into the fire’s cause and origin.

Matt Miller

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