News Release

Historic Coal Creek Camp Mess Hall Lost in Structural Fire

NPS/Chris Allan

News Release Date: June 27, 2024

Contact: Mark Dowdle, 907-455-0615

On Monday, June 24th, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve personnel working at Coal Creek Camp observed the Coal Creek Camp Mess Hall fully engulfed in fire.

With a limited water supply available, a nearby National Park Service wildland fire crew and both on-scene maintenance and historic preservation staff established a portable water pump and hoses, working for several hours to successfully prevent the structural fire from spreading into the wildland environment. Due to the immense heat from the structural fire, the adjacent Coal Creek Camp Shower House, sluice box, and Bobcat skid-steer were also consumed in the fire.

All persons on-site were safe and uninjured in the event.

The Coal Creek Mess Hall, a structure on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally constructed in the late 1930s and moved to its current location in 1951. It was deeply rooted in the mining history of the Coal Creek drainage, sheltering decades of miners, and in more recent decades, hundreds of National Park Service (NPS) and interagency staff in its role as a hub for field-based operations, all while continuing its living history.

The NPS will be conducting an Origin and Cause Investigation to determine the source of the fire.

At this time, the NPS asks any visitors to avoid the area of the fire for their safety and the security of the ongoing investigation.

National Park Service - Alaska would like to thank the Bureau of Land Management - Alaska Fire Service and the NPS Alaska Region Communication Center for providing timely assistance and logistical support to this effort.

Additional park information is available by calling the Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center at [phone] or by visiting the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve website at www.nps.gov/yuch/learn/historyculture/index.htm.