Man survives three weeks in freezing Alaska
washington — Haggard and traumatised, a young man has told how he survived for more than three weeks in the snowy wilderness of Alaska after his remote cabin burned down when he mistakenly put cardboard in his stove.
Tyson Steele, who was rescued by helicopter on Thursday, said his cabin — located 30 kilometres from the nearest neighbour — was incinerated in mid-December, and his beloved dog Phil died in the blaze.
Steele, 30, dug a snow cave and then built a makeshift shelter, staying warm with just a few sleeping bags and coats, and eating tins of food saved from the fire.
Helicopter footage released by
Alaska State Troopers showed Steele waving for help, with SOS marked out in the deep snow, after a rescue effort was launched as he had not called his parents for three weeks.
“The mistake I made, I got hasty and I put a big piece of cardboard in the stove to start the fire,” Steele said. “It sent a spark out through the chimney which landed on the roof.”
He awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of melting plastic dripping and rushed outside in minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures to find his cabin ablaze.
At first, he thought his six-yearold chocolate Labrador had escaped safely. “My dog starts howling, right? Inside. And I thought he was not inside... I was hysterical,” he said.
“I have no words for what sorrow; it was just a scream... that’s all I could express — just scream. (It) felt like I tore my lung out.”
Steele described how a box full of ammunition and a propane tank exploded in the roaring fire as he tried to save the cabin by throwing snow on it until dawn.
Eating a long-awaited McDonald’s and still wearing some of the same clothes, Steele gave an interview to the State Troopers unit, which described him as appearing “vaguely reminiscent of actor Tom Hanks’ character in the movie —