During the early morning hours of Monday, a fire broke out in a home in Port Lions taking the life of a Port Lions resident and his dog, according to trooper dispatch.

Just after midnight on Monday, troopers in Kodiak were notified of a structure fire in the community of Port Lions, to the west of the city of Kodiak, The report coming in to troopers at that time informed them that the Port Lions VPSO and the Port Lions volunteer fire department were battling the blaze.

Even though the community’s fire department attempted to save the single family home, it was heavily damaged in the incident.

Troopers arrived at the community at approximately 9:45 am on Monday. They were followed by a Deputy Fire Marshall in the afternoon. When the Deputy Fire Marshall arrived on the scene, he retrieved the remains of who they believe was 72-year-old Nicholas Nelson from the wreckage. Nelson’s dog was at his side.

The investigation by the Deputy Fire Marshal determined that the fire originated from the home’s crawl space, although the exact circumstances have yet to be pinpointed. The Marshal also determined that the home had smoke detectors installed, but they did not appear to be operational.

Nelson’s remains were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Anchorage for autopsy.

Nelson’s next of kin were on the scene according to the trooper report.

  deceased, dog, fire, fire department, nicholas nelson, port lions, troopers