It's Not "Just A Building." Fires Have Wiped Out The Lodges & Stores Of Many Copper Valley Communities
Looking Back At Fires In The Copper Valley T azlina Trading Post burning down in December, 2020. (You Tube Photo, Polar Remedies) It's...
Looking Back At Fires In The Copper Valley
Tazlina Trading Post burning down in December, 2020. (You Tube Photo, Polar Remedies)
It's Not Just "A Building"
In The Wilds Of Alaska, Lodge & Store Fires Wreak Havoc On Community, Economy & Social Life
From the Country Journal...
This story was written after the Tazlina Trading Post burned down just before Christmas, 2020, on December 20th. Since then, the Point Lodge, and now Midway Store in Slana have also burned down.
There have been other disastrous fires, in past decades, with a huge impact on our small surrounding communities, including the destruction of Chistochina Lodge, Tangle Lakes Lodge on the Denali Highway, Old Copper Center Catholic School, Gakona Junction RV Park, Crackerbarrel Grocery Store in Glennallen, Sourdough Roadhouse, the Glenn-Rich Hotel and Restaurant, Copper Center Lodge, Summit Lake Lodge and Mendeltna Lodge. Other major fires have included an entire row of hotel rooms that burned down at the Caribou Hotel Annex, and the burning down of National Bank of Alaska.
Every fire that has taken one of these buildings has destroyed a core piece of community life and services. The Copper Valley – in spite of not having to contend with a major threatening forest fire since the Wilson Camp Lightning Fire of 1983 – has seen a stunning number of key burned-out buildings, each of which played an outsized role in local life. Although some of the buildings were replaced, many were not. In the Copper Valley, a single lodge or store burning down has the same impact as an entire city block in a larger community. In a place like the Copper Valley, the efforts of every single citizen or business is magnified, and every loss is devastating.
For more on the devastating impacts of fire, see: Chistochina Saves The Lodge. Click here
The Trading Post was built in 1958 by Lucille and Leonard Brenwick, who ran it until 1971.
The Tazlina River Trading Post Fire can be clearly seen on a You Tube video by "Polar Remedies" which follows.
