Anchorage Daily News

At least a dozen Mountain View residents escaped without injury through the windows of their three-story apartment building early Friday morning after someone lit a fire in the stairwell, according to Anchorage firefighters.

Firefighters said they are looking for the arsonist and asking anyone with information to call Crimestoppers at 561-7867.

The 4 a.m. fire at 3209 Peterkin Ave. did not damage the building's six units but they are uninhabitable because the stairway is destroyed, said Bridget Bushue, division chief for the Anchorage Fire Department.

She said the fire consumed the first two-and-a-half flights of stairs, causing roughly $15,000 to $20,000 in damage.

A dozen firetrucks arrived about three minutes after one of the building occupants reported the fire at 4:33 a.m., Bushue said.

"People were already climbing out windows when we got there," she said. Firefighters rescued the rest with ladders, she said.

She said the good news is that the building's smoke detectors worked. "That's what woke people up," she said.

The building's owner, Dan Hollingsworth, could not be immediately reached for comment.

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