Sockeye Fire burglary story retracted

WASILLA — A man identified as a Willow firefighter in Sunday’s page A1 story is not a firefighter, and never claimed to be one, he said in an interview Monday.

The man, who asked not to be identified because he was the victim of a crime, said he was a contract worker working to supply firefighters fighting the Sockeye fire, not a firefighter.

That information about his employment apparently became garbled — reminiscent of the children’s game “Telephone” — between police and prosecutors en route to the Frontiersman amid the excitement of a burglary busted in progress, and a man who originally told police he was “working to help control a large wildfire,” according to court documents and emails. The first use of the word “firefighter” in connection with the story was in an email from prosecutors to the Frontiersman.

The story appeared to cut to the heart of several contemporary issues in Valley life: rampant property crime, the more-than-7,000-acre Sockeye Fire, and the heroics of local law enforcement. Officer Andy Kappler arrested one alleged burglar at gunpoint, and searched the property with Alaska State Troopers to find another alleged burglar hiding under a trailer, according to the police report.

However, it now appears at least one compelling element of the story is not true.

Borough emergency services officials said they called the Frontiersman twice Friday, when the story was being reported, to say the man did not work for them. Those calls were made to the Frontiersman’s main line, and apparently did not get through to the reporter working the story, who was unaware of the incorrect information until reached at home Sunday night by Willow Fire Chief Mahlon Greene and another officer with the department, Leo Lashock, who lost his home in the Sockeye Fire, but worked to save other people’s property despite the loss. Another source familiar with Valley firefighters identified the man as a Willow firefighter based on the man’s family name alone when borough fire officials appeared not to return phone calls Friday afternoon.

When contacted Monday morning, borough fire officials said no one by the man’s name had worked for any of the borough’s fire departments. Division of Forestry spokesman Celeste Prescott said no one by the name had worked the fire at all, and pointed to an elaborate computer system used to track fire line workers for payroll and safety reasons.

Emergency officials initially thought the man may have been trying to take credit for fighting the fire in order to receive financial aid or donations, a common occurrence in the wake of major disasters, though the victim says that is not the case, and pointed out that he was passing up the opportunity to be publicly identified.

Only after the man gave police permission to release his phone number directly to a reporter did the apparent source of the errors start to emerge.

Tyler Snodgrass, 29, and Rachael West, 27, the two accused burglars, remained in the Mat-Su Pretrial jail Monday. Snodgrass was charged with one count of first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree theft, and a single count of fourth-degree drug misconduct for methamphetamine allegedly found in his possession. Authorities charged West with one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree theft.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.