A woman in Kenai was seriously injured Thursday after a brown bear attacked her on the front deck of her home just before dawn. The woman was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Anchorage for treatment after the mauling left her with what state troopers described as "serious" injuries. The incident unfolded at about 5 a.m. when the woman opened her front door to let her dogs out and encountered a sow with two cubs in the front yard.
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File photo of a brown bear near a shoreline; Alaska officials say a Kenai woman was mauled by a brown bear at her home while letting her dogs out and was airlifted to an Anchorage hospital.
According to reports from state troopers, the woman initially retreated back into the house after seeing the bear and her two cubs outside. At one point she observed one of her dogs running away from the doorway, and she went inside to retrieve a shotgun. She fired approximately four rounds in an effort to scare the animals from the property, but the sow subsequently attacked and mauled her on the front deck.
Another woman who was in the home at the time said to have frightened the bears away after the attack and assisted the injured woman back into the house, where emergency responders were notified. Following that, medical personnel arranged for an air evacuation; the woman was medevacked to an area hospital in Anchorage for treatment of the injuries described as serious by law enforcement.
Alaska Wildlife troopers and officials from the state Fish and Game department responded to the scene to investigate the circumstances that led to the encounter. During their preliminary investigation they found evidence suggesting the bears had been getting into several bird feeders in the yard prior to the mauling. Authorities indicated the disturbed bird feeders appeared to have attracted the bears onto the property before the early morning incident.
The assault on the front deck occurred in the predawn hours, a time when residents in bear country say animals may be active and moving through residential areas. In this case, the incident began when a homeowner opened an exterior door to let pets outside and found herself confronting a sow accompanied by two cubs in the immediate vicinity of the house. The troopers’ account of events notes the woman fired several warning or deterrent shots before the bear made contact and inflicted the injuries that required air transport to Anchorage.
Emergency responders coordinated the medical evacuation after first aid and assistance were provided at the scene by the other resident of the house. The state troopers did not release the woman’s name, and medical authorities have not publicly released additional details about her condition beyond the characterization of her injuries as serious. Officials with Alaska Wildlife Troopers and Fish and Game continued their on-scene investigation following the medevac to determine whether additional measures or public notifications were necessary.
Local authorities catalogued signs of recent bear activity on the property as part of their initial inquiry. The disturbed bird feeders observed in the yard were specifically noted by wildlife officers as items the bears appeared to have been getting into before the mauling occurred. Those observations formed part of the investigation into how and why the sow and her two cubs were on the homeowner’s property at that early hour.
The troopers and Fish and Game officials who responded collected evidence and conducted interviews at the residence before concluding their initial field work. The incident remains under investigation by those state wildlife and public safety agencies, which documented the sequence of events beginning with the homeowner opening the front door to let the dogs out, the sighting of a bear with two cubs, the firing of roughly four shotgun rounds intended to deter the animals, the subsequent attack on the front deck, and the medical airlift to an Anchorage hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
Local news outlet YourAlaskaLink subsequently reported that the Kenai woman is recovering after suffering the serious injuries that required her airlift to Anchorage.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety’s daily dispatch lists the incident as case AK26065582 and gives a more precise time and location, saying the encounter occurred at about 4:54 a.m. near the intersection of Karluk Avenue and Bore Tide Drive in Kenai and that the sow and cubs had climbed over a fence into the front yard before the attack.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the Department of Fish and Game asked the public to report any brown bear sightings in the area, providing a tip line at 907-262-4453 and directing people to use the Department of Fish and Game’s online wildlife encounter reporting system.