Troopers release names of fire victims

SUTTON — Alaska State Troopers on Thursday released the names of two people killed in a house fire in Sutton.

According to a trooper press release, the two people were Eleanor Riley, 75, of Sutton and Michael Armstrong 54, of Sutton.

The fire was first reported at 1:05 a.m., May 9.

Troopers say that a 46-year-old Sutton man narrowly escaped the blaze when he awoke at around 1 a.m. to find the house filled with thick black smoke.

“The man crawled to the front door and was able to exit the home. He was able to call for help at a neighbor's residence,” according to the trooper press release.

Sutton Assistant Fire Chief Steve Phil Blydenburgh said the home was fully involved when crews arrived and had to be fought defensively to keep it from spreading.

Crews did check every entrance they could reach on the hope that one of the people they knew were trapped had made it far enough that firefighters could reach inside and grab them. But the fire was too hot to go inside the building until it had already been knocked down.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.