A holding cell that had two men detained in it caught on fire in Mountain Village on Friday. One man is dead. The fire caused significant damage to two-thirds of the building, which serves as the main public safety building for the lower Yukon River village of 800 residents.
Village police officers were holding the men for mental health or social service reasons in what is called a Title 47 hold — something that is done if they pose a danger to themselves or others.
Dead is Lawrence Chiklak, age 39. The other man managed to be evacuated safely. The village police officer received treatment at a Bethel hospital for minor injuries.
Chiklak was a troubled soul who had a long rap sheet with the court system for violent crimes such as assault, threats, and disorderly conduct.
The investigation is active and ongoing, according to Alaska State Troopers.
That is curious. So the lighter just ignited by itself?
Not probable, but DPS is not saying who they thought had control of that lighter. – sd
There have been similar occurrences (inmates sneaking lighters into facilities) at more professional institutions. It just simply doesn’t make headlines merely because it doesn’t become even an injurious event. Usually it’s just an idiot winds up setting off a sprinkler…not newsworthy.
I’m not familiar with the Mountain Village facility, but I imagine it’s an older wood structure on pilings (stilts) and would go up into smoke like a flash.
I always question the wisdom of starting a fire in a room that’s locked.
why did they even have a lighter?
Newsflash for ya, inmates have previously snuck lighters into FCC and ACC where the COs are academy trained and so was the arresting officer. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened and yes, some inmates are perfectly capable of poor judgement.
Jail guards in the villages are often just VPOs (not to be confused with VPSOs) or are community hired emergency jail guards.
Yes, they do have some structures and rules in place to prevent such occurrences, but let’s not forget that a human factor can affect the situation.
There have been similar occurrences (inmates sneaking lighters into facilities) at more professional institutions. It just simply doesn’t make headlines merely because it doesn’t become even an injurious event. Usually it’s just an idiot winds up setting off a sprinkler…not newsworthy.
I’m not familiar with the Mountain Village facility, but I imagine it’s an older wood structure on pilings (stilts) and would go up into smoke like a flash.
Yes, essentially an older timber-built building. – sd
About 55 years ago my brother-in-law was a local cop in a village. He showed me the jail, which resembled an old chicken coop. I said it looked like it would not hold anyone who tried to escape. Easy to kick the door down or even kick through the wall. He said he would hog-tie the prisoner (usually a drunk) and untie him in the morning and let him go. Frontier justice!
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