Share
JUNEAU, Alaska — An abandoned bus in the Alaska backcountry, popularized by the book “Into the Wild” and movie of the same name, was removed Thursday, state officials said.
The decision prioritizes public safety, Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said.
The bus has long attracted adventurers to an area without cellphone service and marked by unpredictable weather and at-times swollen rivers. Some have had to be rescued or have died. Christopher McCandless, the subject of the book and movie, died there in 1992.
The rescue earlier this year of five Italian tourists and death last year of a woman from Belarus intensified calls from local officials for the bus, about 25 miles from the Parks Highway, to be removed.
The Alaska Army National Guard moved the bus as part of a training mission “at no cost to the public or additional cost to the state,” Feige said.
The Alaska National Guard, in a release, said the bus was removed using a heavy-lift helicopter. The crew ensured the safety of a suitcase with sentimental value to the McCandless family, the release states. It doesn’t describe that item further.
Feige, in a release, said the bus will be kept in a secure location while her department weighs various options for what to do with it.
The Long-Abandoned Fairbanks City Bus Became Famous by the 1996 Book
“We encourage people to enjoy Alaska’s wild areas safely, and we understand the hold this bus has had on the popular imagination,” she said in a release. “However, this is an abandoned and deteriorating vehicle that was requiring dangerous and costly rescue efforts. More importantly, it was costing some visitors their lives.”
McCandless, a 24-year-old from Virginia, was prevented from seeking help by the swollen banks of the Teklanika River. He died of starvation in the bus in 1992, and wrote in a journal about living in the bus for 114 days, right up to his death.
The long-abandoned Fairbanks city bus became famous by the 1996 book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, and a 2007 Sean Penn-directed movie of the same name.
The Department of Natural Resources said the 1940s-era bus had been used by a construction company to house employees during work on an access road in the area and was abandoned when the work was finished in 1961.
In March, officials in the Denali Borough based in Healy, about 25 miles from the bus, voted unanimously to be rid of it.
RELATED TOPICS:
Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing
4 hours ago
Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99
10 hours ago
Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says
11 hours ago
Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US
11 hours ago
Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump
11 hours ago
Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children
11 hours ago
California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left
11 hours ago
How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again
2 days ago
What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.
2 days ago
TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports
4 hours ago
Categories

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US
