kaichu dento
Flashaholic
I just got an e-mail from one of my friends where I'd been working for most of the last ten years and now, less than a week of having left there, one of the coolest guys that's ever worked there got drunk and passed out in a cabin that burned up yesterday.
They didn't think anyone was in it, but when the backhoe started tearing it apart they found him. I'm kind of numb right now and just don't know how to feel but I miss him and had been looking forward to talking to him again. One of the girls that worked with him everyday was the one that saw the cabin burning about 3:00 yesterday morning.
He just got a new dog that he was so proud of and I ran into him after work a couple weeks ago. He'd just got back from walking the dog but when I told him about a couple of cool trails I knew that most of the people at the resort didn't know about, we went right back out again. I saw him several times after that and probably talked to him at least a few times a week and he was one of my regulars to come hear me play on Saturdays. However, that run down through the woods with his new dog will remain the last thing we ever did together.
Always smiling and happy, he was one of the rare people that never gave up on finding new things to improve about the pool area at the hot springs. Chena Hot Springs will be a much more solemn place without him and I know that none of us that were lucky enough to work with him will ever forget his cheerfulness. Ironic, as he was telling me that if I'd met him three years ago I would not have liked him at all.
That was when he started spending lots of time alone out near Dillingham where he'd worked for years. It was during that time that he said he spent many hours contemplating who he was and who he wanted to be. Though completely unknown to the world at large, he was a great man and the world is a poorer place for his loss.
Here's a couple of the only good pictures I've got of him.
Goodbye Kevin...
They didn't think anyone was in it, but when the backhoe started tearing it apart they found him. I'm kind of numb right now and just don't know how to feel but I miss him and had been looking forward to talking to him again. One of the girls that worked with him everyday was the one that saw the cabin burning about 3:00 yesterday morning.
He just got a new dog that he was so proud of and I ran into him after work a couple weeks ago. He'd just got back from walking the dog but when I told him about a couple of cool trails I knew that most of the people at the resort didn't know about, we went right back out again. I saw him several times after that and probably talked to him at least a few times a week and he was one of my regulars to come hear me play on Saturdays. However, that run down through the woods with his new dog will remain the last thing we ever did together.
Always smiling and happy, he was one of the rare people that never gave up on finding new things to improve about the pool area at the hot springs. Chena Hot Springs will be a much more solemn place without him and I know that none of us that were lucky enough to work with him will ever forget his cheerfulness. Ironic, as he was telling me that if I'd met him three years ago I would not have liked him at all.
That was when he started spending lots of time alone out near Dillingham where he'd worked for years. It was during that time that he said he spent many hours contemplating who he was and who he wanted to be. Though completely unknown to the world at large, he was a great man and the world is a poorer place for his loss.
Body found in rubble of burned cabin at Chena Hot Springs Resort
by Jeff Richardson
FAIRBANKS — A body was discovered in the remains of a cabin at Chena Hot Springs Resort following a fire early Saturday morning.
Alaska State Troopers found the body later that morning, after the blaze was extinguished, spokeswoman Megan Peters said.
Peters said authorities have
tentatively identified the victim, but they aren't releasing a name until the ID can be confirmed. She said the remains were badly burned.
The body was sent to the state medical examiner to be identified and so a cause of death can be determined, Peters said.
The fire was sudden and intense, according to a guest at the resort, which is located about 60 miles from Fairbanks. Dee Wennerstrom, who was staying at the nearby lodge with her daughter and granddaughter, said they were awakened at about 3 a.m. Saturday when someone ran through the building screaming about a fire.
Wennerstrom said they looked outside to see a nearby employee cabin fully engulfed in flames.
"It was gone in less than an hour," she said. "It was really bad."
Resort owner Bernie Karl said he didn't want to discuss any specifics about the death until authorities make a final identification, but he said it was a huge blow to employees there.
"We're extremely distraught over the loss of life," he said.
The roughly 12-by-16-foot cabin, which was built in the 1980s, had been recently purchased by the resort, Karl said.
He said maintenance personnel quickly responded to the fire with hoses and fire extinguishers, but it had progressed too far to be extinguished.
"The crew did a tremendous job doing the best they could," he said.
The fire was large enough that it spread to nearby trees and caused concerns that it might ignite other buildings. Karl said another small cabin is just a few feet away.
The situation was uncertain enough that Wennerstrom said her family and other guests packed their bags and waited outside in case they needed to leave quickly.
An Alaska Division of Forestry engine responded to the scene and remained there until the threat of a wildfire subsided, according to a press release by the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. The area is currently on monitor status for a forest fire, although only a small area was involved.
Peters said the cause of the fire is being investigated by the state fire marshal's office.
Here's a couple of the only good pictures I've got of him.
Goodbye Kevin...
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