7 Filipino teachers evacuated after fire guts school in Alaska

NEW YORK—Seven Filipino teachers have been evacuated to Anchorage, Alaska after a fire hit their school on St. Michael Island in Stebbins.

The Tukurngailnguq School caught fire on the night of June 26. According to witnesses, an explosion was heard as the school buildings burned.

Based on the initial investigation by authorities, the fire started in the boiler room. The Filipino teachers attempted to put it out using fire extinguishers, but the flames quickly spread due to the strong winds in the area.

"Workers noticed smoke coming from a storage building. They quickly grabbed fire extinguishers but, unfortunately, were not able to control the fire. As the flames began to grow, everyone in the school or housing was evacuated. The wind was blowing away from the school, so there was no imminent danger, and local volunteers began assisting with trying to put out the flames," RCC Staffing Solution USA Chief Executive Officer Romer Jazo, who is overseeing the affected Filipino teachers, told GMA Integrated News.

"Stebbins does not have a fire department, which is the case for all the towns in the district," Razo said.

Nine school district buildings burned, including housing for the seven Filipino teachers teaching in the area. Three teachers safely left the building during the fire, while four others were on vacation at the time of the incident.

Jazo added that the seven Filipino teachers were unable to salvage any belongings, and they have been taken to Anchorage. The staffing agency has provided financial support to the affected Filipino international teachers and is assisting them.

"As part of the teacher housing was part of the destruction, there were teachers that lost all of their items that were in the housing. The district does not carry homeowners' insurance. Due to this incident, there has been outreach from the district to assist those that lost their housing and belongings. There are several GoFundMe accounts, and our teacher union has given all teachers that lost their housing a gift card to help purchase new items," Razo said.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy has activated the state's public assistance program to help those affected and quickly rebuild the school buildings, which are the only educational facilities for the community in Stebbins. — VDV, GMA Integrated News