On Thursday evening, a second body was recovered from the wreckage of the collapsed Geraghty Street apartment building fire that began in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

Residents on the second floor of the two story building reported hearing an explosion at approximately 3:45 am on Wednesday, but did not immediatly realize that the building, which houses a second hand furniture store on the first floor and apartments on the second story, was on fire.

After the explosion at the Geraghty address, the fire spread quickly through the building. Firefighters, who responded to the scene had to rescue some of the fire victims using ladders as they were trapped by the fast-moving inferno. One male victim suffered severe burns and was transported to the Seattle burn hospital for treatment, other victims, with less severe injuries were treated at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.

The fire damaged the building so heavily that it collapsed. Fire crews needed to call in heavy equipment to go through the wreckage. It wasn’t until Wednesday night that fire investigators would locate the first of two victims. The second victim was found at 4:30 pm on Thursday.

Investigators say there is a possibility that there may be more victims buried in the rubble.

The identities of the victims is currently unknown and investigators are awaiting the results of the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage. They expect results in the coming week.

Investigators have only managed to go through about half of the wreckage so far in their search for the cause of the blaze.

Approximately 50 people were displaced by the fire in the 18-unit apartment building.

The Fairbanks Fire Department investigators are asking the public for any information regarding the fire and its cause and ask that they contact them at (907) 450-6615.