Thanksgiving is the peak day of the year for home cooking fires

Thanksgiving is a day that is meant to commemorate all the things that we’re thankful for in life. Sadly, the holiday also marks the peak day of the year for fires that cooking is the leading contributing factor. In Alaska last year, there were 183 fires in homes that were cooking-related. Residential property damage that year due to those fires surpassed $1.5 million dollars.
Whether it be fires that are cooking-related, improper heating, electrical, it doesn’t matter—the suffering caused by fires is almost always preventable, said Alaska State Fire Marshal David Tyler, Director for the Division of Fire and Life Safety. This Thanksgiving, we ask Alaskans to not become complacent when preparing their holiday meal. Your life and the lives of your family and friends are too important to risk. Help us avoid a tragedy by not leaving your cooking unattended.
In 2017, 183 residential fires were determined to be directly caused or contributed to by cooking. Five Alaskans were killed and nine were injured in those fires. Nationally, cooking equipment was involved in almost half of all reported home fire injuries. Cooking fires were also the second leading cause of home fire deaths.
The three other days of the year that someone is more likely to have a cooking-related fire in their home are Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, and the day before Thanksgiving.
Jonathon Taylor, Communications
Dept. of Public Safety

Anchorage airport moves taxi queue closer
Beginning this afternoon (Nov. 5th, 2018) Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) passengers will be able to conveniently catch a taxicab as they walk out of the south terminal and cross directly over to the relocated taxicab queue. While those passengers waiting for hotel courtesy shuttles, and limousines will do so out of the elements—in the ground transportation lobby, where the taxicabs used to queue.
We looked at our current ground transportation operation, and asked ourselves. What can we do to improve our passenger’s airport experience? said Jim Szczesniak, Airport Manager, All of the taxicabs are warmed up and ready to go, and they queue up away from the baggage claim. While a little further down the curb, passengers are braving the elements waiting for the hotel shuttles.
The airport is shuffling things around on a trial basis. No longer will passengers have to wait outside for their hotel courtesy shuttle, or limousine. Now they will be able to watch from the comfort of the heated ground transportation lobby, and those catching a taxicab will have a much shorter walk to the front of the taxicab queue. There are no changes for the People Mover and the Alaska Native Medical Center shuttle.
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is an important gateway to the city of Anchorage and the State of Alaska. More than five million passengers fly through ANC annually. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is responsible for approximately 15,577 airport & community jobs, earning $1 billion. That’s 1 in 10 jobs in Anchorage.
Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
Juneau, AK

Governor-Elect Dunleavy appoints Corri Feige as DNR Commissioner
Today (Nov. 14th, 2018), Governor-elect Mike Dunleavy announced his appointment of Corri Feige as Department of Natural Resources Commissioner.
Governor-Elect Dunleavy said, in Alaska, few departments are as critical as Natural Resources. Corri is the perfect choice to lead it, especially given our shared vision to revitalize our natural resource sector.
Feige is a geophysicist and engineer with 30 years of global exploration and development experience in the energy and mining industries. During the past 20 years in Alaska, she has worked on behalf of small and mid-sized independent companies advancing both conventional and unconventional energy projects on the North Slope, in Cook Inlet, the Interior and Southwest Alaska.
Feige’s experience includes executive project management, strategic planning, permitting and environmental compliance, leasing and land management, stakeholder engagement, and governmental affairs. Corri has held such posts as director of the State of Alaska’s Division of Oil & Gas, commissioner on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor’s Energy Policy Commission, and general manager – Alaska for Linc Energy Operations, Inc.
In addition, Governor-elect Dunleavy announced his administration will place an immediate freeze on all new regulations across all State departments, and will explore the possibility of doing so retroactively to Nov. 6, 2018 (Election Day).
A new administration means new priorities, and our focus is to implement the voters’ desire to position Alaska for economic growth, said Dunleavy. Our goal is to pause any new regulations before our team has had the opportunity to assess whether they are needed or will hurt the economy.
Sarah Erkmann Ward
Governor-Elect Dunleavy