Wreck nearly sparks larger problem

WASILLA — Alaska State Troopers say a drunken driver nearly caused a forest fire Saturday.

According to a trooper press statement, a 2002 Chevy sedan ran into a power pole on Hyer Road near the Parks Highway sometime around 6:45 a.m.

Troopers arrived and saw the power lines were down and were “igniting nearby trees,” the report says.

The driver was nowhere to be seen.

Troopers say they later found the driver and identified her as Lorena Wanyoike, 38, of Anchorage. They say they found her on the highway trying to flag down passing cars.

She was arrested for drunken driving and not giving immediate notice of an accident, and jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.