In 1945, a tug and barge was passing through Icy Strait, past the native village of Hoonah Alaska. It was a sunny day, and as often happens in Southeast Alaska, the west winds can blow ferociously when the sun comes out. Apparently a large enough wind was whipped up that it tipped the barge full of fifty five gallon drums of fuel. There was no way for the tug to recover the drums, so the natives went out and salvaged them. Many of the houses along the beach were on stilts to keep the houses above the high tide line. Some folks used the area under their houses to smoke salmon. The space was also used to store the fuel drums, as there were no garages or sheds for storage space. One fellow was smoking fish under his house when one of the fuel drums caught fire. Because the houses were built right next to each other, the fire spread uninhibited. There were no fire trucks, because there was no street, just a wooden boardwalk. Most of the town burned up, but not all of it. It just so happened that there was a barge passing through that was loaded with materials for housing in Guam. It was diverted to Hoonah and new houses were built. They all looked alike, and the original ones didn't have insulation because they were headed to a warm climate. I believe you can see pictures of the fire if you were to google Hoonah Fire 1945.

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