A cabin fire caused most likely by smoking materials killed a UAF student two weeks ago, according to the University Fire Department.

Randolph Bradbury, a 47-year-old nursing student, died Nov. 22 of smoke inhalation at his rented cabin on Army Road.

"Most likely the cause was improper disposal of smoking materials," said university fire marshal Theresa Ross.

Investigators came to that conclusion based on the damage in the cabin, which led to an area of origin that was no where near another heating source, Ross said. Bradbury was a known smoker, she said.

The incident began Nov. 22, when the University Fire Department received a 911 call on Nov. 22 at 5:52 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they encountered light smoke and minimal flames, the department said.

Using an infrared camera, firefighters located Bradbury. He was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, but medical staff were unable to revive him.

Bradbury moved to Fairbanks in 1970 with his parents, according to his obituary.

He served two years with U.S. Marine Corps, and then worked as a truck driver and diesel mechanic in the Lower 48.

He returned to Alaska in 2002 and worked as a diesel mechanic. A work-related accident caused him to change careers, and he enrolled at UAF.

Reliable statistics aren't maintained on how many cabins catch on fire each year in Alaska. The Division of Fire Safety does not distinguish between cabins and single-family structures.

But state reports from various agencies do indicate a number of cabins have caught fire this year. To date, of the 17 fire fatalities in Alaska in 2006, at least four have been from cabin-related fires, according to the Division of Fire Safety.

Marc Wolford, assistant chief of the Ester Volunteer Fire Department, said his crew responded to five cabin fires last year.

His department has had so many cabin fire problems that it applied for a grant to provide free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to local residents.

Unlike residences in city limits, cabins outside of the City of Fairbanks are not required to meet building code requirements, Wolford said.

"The problem we're seeing is the landlords aren't staying up on the maintenance," he said.

Many landlords say maintenance is the tenants' problem, Wolford said. But occupants like students move around frequently and tend not to be vested in maintaining a cabin, he said.

"So you get a build up of problems," he said.

The lack of code requirements also means some cabins outside the city are built without safety requirements found inside Fairbanks.

Too few electrical outlets, for example, have been known to cause fires when residents overload the circuits, Wolford said.

Students shopping for a cabin should be sure that their cabin is safe, he said. State law requires they have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

In 2005, the Fire Safety Division found nearly 21.9 percent of residences that caught on fire in Alaska had no smoke detector. In Fairbanks, 14 percent of residences on fire didn't have one.

"If they don't [have one], then you have a right to contact the state fire marshal's office and request that the landlord put one in," Wolford said.

Cabin shoppers should inspect the wiring and make sure it's not something easily broken or that animals can bite into, he said. Future tenants should also look at neighbors' cabins, he said.

"Make sure that you have the proper ventilation in your cabin," Wolford said, noting that carbon monoxide can flood a cabin if it cannot leave.

If anything, cabin dwellers just need to be careful not to overheat their homes and need to be careful handling wood stoves, he said, especially as the cold descends.

"We rarely, rarely have cabin fires in the summer," Wolford said.

Several non-fatal cabin fires have been reported in the area in 2006. Fairbanks firefighters responded July 23 to a cabin engulfed in flames and smoke. A fire broke out at a log cabin on April 4 in Salcha, according to Alaska State Troopers.

In North Pole, firefighters responded to a fire at a one-and-a-half story log cabin on Lyle Road on Nov. 10 after a neighbor saw the flames through the trees.

Ross, the university fire marshal, said cabin dwellers should make sure their cabins have proper safety precautions.

"The most important thing is to have smoke detectors [and] emergency escape windows," she said.