newsminer.com

10 YEARS AGO

May 12, 1998 — Carrs is checking out a site that it has recently cleared off Chena Pump Road for a proposed new grocery store. The company is not ready to announce any building plans just yet, but it bought the property in the Super Valu deal with the intention of building a store there.

25 YEARS AGO

May 12, 1983 — Preparation by the fire department and cooperation by residents saved lives in this morning’s Northward Building fire, according to fire officials. Assistant Fire Chief Jay Morris said firefighters who make annual inspection tours of Fairbanks building were familiar with the quirks of the Northward and were prepared to deal with them. Immediately after arriving on the scene, one or two firefighters were assigned to the roof, Morris said.

They succeeded in persuading residents to stay in their rooms rather than venture out into the smoke-filled hallways. “There was a period of time (between 6:45 and 7 a.m.) when it would have been fatal to go out on the fire floor,” Morris said. “Fortunately none of them did that. They stayed right in their apartments.” Twenty-six years ago, one man died and 14 people were injured when a fire started in the basement of the Northward and sent smoke throughout the building.

Some residents panicked and left their apartments, with some choosing to leap into safety nets. A couple on the seventh floor left their apartments and tried to make it to the roof. They were overcome by smoke and were found near a locked door. The woman revived. Her husband died.

50 YEARS AGO

May 12, 1958 — Intoxication figured highly in the cases coming before the magistrate’s court this morning. Robert E. Nolan, 29, of 501 Third St., pleaded not guilty to a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and was released on $250 bail, with a trial set for May 20. According to city police, Nolan was arrested at 3:44 a.m. today after a chase that ended with Nolan stopping, then backing into the police car that pulled up behind him.

75 YEARS AGO

May 12, 1933 — On a special excursion, junior and senior students of Fairbanks High School today visited the Healy River Coal Corporation as guests of Capt. A.E. Lathrop, its president. The trip was made in a car chartered for the purpose from the Alaska Railroad. Leaving here at 7 o’clock this morning, the party went to Nenana. They stopped there an hour. They then went from there to the mines. It is expected they will return at 9 o’clock this evening.