A fishing trip meant to help troubled teens ended in violence at a Kasilof cabin

A trip meant to help struggling teenagers ended in serious violence this week at a cabin near Kasilof. According to Alaska State Troopers, a teenage boy poured gasoline on a sleeping man and set him on fire on June 23. The man was badly hurt and flown to an Anchorage-area hospital; troopers said his injuries, while substantial, are not considered life-threatening.

The group had come to the Kenai Peninsula for a fishing trip tied to a residential treatment program for troubled youth — one adult and three teenage boys. The other two boys were not hurt and were released to other staff with the program, which has not been publicly identified.

The teenager accused in the attack was arrested on several felony charges and turned over to the Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice, the agency that takes custody of young people committed by the courts. He has not been named, as is standard in juvenile cases, and the charges are accusations; under the law he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. State investigators, the Kenai Peninsula Borough fire marshal, and Soldotna troopers are still working the case, and more charges could follow.

It is, by any measure, a hard story: a man gravely injured, a teenager now facing the justice system, and a trip meant for healing that turned into something else entirely.