Damage Could Reach $3M in North Pole Fire

The owner of an Alaskan cement plant near North Pole where a building burned Tuesday is estimating damage of $2.5 to $3 million.

ill Hoople of HC Redi-Mix tells the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (that the fire burned a storage building and workshop.

The 160-foot-by-100-foot metal building contained heavy equipment. Hoople says an excavator, a road grader, an articulating rock truck and a concrete mixer truck were destroyed.

Hoople says the contents were insured.

The building also was used to store heated aggregate for concrete operations.

Hoople says the company is taking measures to make up for the loss and will pour concrete for the rest of the month before shutting down for the winter.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.