UPDATE: North Pole Child Buried for Eight Minutes Under Snow Dies at Anchorage Hospital

North Star Volunteer Fire Department logo
North Star Volunteer Fire Department logo

UPDATE: Four-year-old Alexcia Baril, of North Pole, succumbed to her injuries sustained in Saturday’s incident where she was buried under snow from her family’s roof. She died on Monday at an Anchorage hospital.

Original Story: Quick response by the North Star Volunteer Fire Department saved the life of a young, four-year-old girl after she became buried under a load of snow on Saturday afternoon.

It was after 1 pm on Saturday afternoon, as a family in North Pole was preparing to leave their residence, the young child went out ahead of the rest. Seconds later, the parents heard the snow sliding off of their roof and onto the deck of their home.

Initially trapped inside the house by the sudden deluge of snow from the roof, the family kicked out the glass from the storm door to get out. Not seeing the four-year-old child, the grandmother immediately called 911 to report the incident. 

The North Star Volunteer Fire Department, who luckily were in the area finishing up a separate call, rushed to the scene.

Together with the family, the crew searched the deck that had been entirely covered by the five-foot-deep avalanche from the roof. As the clock ticked on, the search continued, until the father found the hand of his missing daughter.

Working quickly, they uncovered the child from beneath the compacted snow, only to find that she was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Medical personnel immediately began treating the child, and continued to do so all the way to the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. 

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Fortunately, the child was revived and was stabilized at the hospital. Troopers report that the four-year-old was flown to Anchorage via LifeMed for further treatment.

It is believed that the young girl was buried for approximately eight minutes before being unburied.

The exact nature of her injuries is currently unknown. [xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]