BY JAN DICK
Alaska has consistently had per-capita fire death and fire loss rates significantly higher than any other state in the United States over the past 10 years. This, according to the Alaska State Fire Marshal’s Office, is a dismal record shared equally among cities and towns along Alaska’s road system and hundreds of isolated and remote villages scattered across Alaska’s rural landscape.
Bush villages in Alaska share many challenges to developing effective fire prevention and suppression programs. One is the great distance between most villages and the isolation these distances create. Aircraft year-round, snow machines in winter, and boats in the summer are usually the only means of intervillage travel.
Many people in Alaska practice a subsistence lifestyle, relying on the natural resources around them for food. Fishing and hunting go on year-round, making training scheduling difficult. In some villages, there is only a very brief time when subsistence activities are not the villager’s priority.
Some villages lack running water. Many coastal villages have only boardwalks to join houses and homes, and extremely cold temperatures in northern and interior villages make outside training difficult and, in some cases, impossible. Finally, cultural differences sometimes challenge trainers to effectively present classroom and practical materials.
In 2001, with fire losses mounting again in Alaska, a federal grant was awarded to help the state develop a program to equip villages with appropriate firefighting tools and give residents training on ways to use and maintain the equipment provided effectively. Alaska had attempted to shore up firefighting capabilities in villages during the 1980s. This effort fell short, however, because equipment was often inappropriate and training inadequate. It was important to avoid the mistakes of the ’80s.
“FIRE DEPARTMENT IN A BOX”
Thanks to a federal grant provided through the U.S. Department of the Interior and a partnership formed between a nonprofit organization and the state, the situation in “bush” Alaska may be getting better. Project Code Red, a program developed to provide equipment and training to rural Alaskans for fire protection and education, is now in its second year and has yielded positive results.
Project Code Red is the product of a cooperative effort of a nonprofit corporation, Alaska Rural Partners, Inc.; Alaska Village Initiatives, a statewide not-for-profit corporation; and the Alaska Division of Fire Service Training. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens provided leadership for securing project funding while Alaska’s Fire Marshal’s Office provided operational guidance to implement training. Numerous other government agencies are now supporting the Code Red Project.
Officially called Micro-Rural Fire Departments, village fire departments have become known locally as “Carhartt Fire Departments” or “Fire Departments in a Box.” Reference to Carhartt comes from the external attack strategies and tactics emphasized when the village firefighters will be wearing their Carhartt brand coveralls common throughout Alaska. “Fire Department in a Box” refers to the shipping container that houses the villages’ firefighting equipment.
To help the majority of villages, Project Code Red developed tactical assumptions to create a workable package of firefighting equipment. Since many villages lacked roads, the equipment had to be light and portable so it could be moved by hand or with all-terrain vehicles. Cold weather dictated that the equipment be reliable at temperatures well below freezing. Since most villages are remote, the equipment had to be as maintenance free as possible, and the system had to be rechargeable at a minimum cost and in a timely manner. Finally, because of environmental concerns in subsistence cultures, all extinguishing agents needed to be environmentally safe.
The equipment in a Micro-Rural Fire Department includes four cartridge-type 20-pound fire extinguishers, two compressed-air cartridge three-gallon compressed-air foam extinguishers, a 30-gallon compressed-air foam extinguisher, a portable pump, a gated-wye, and 400 feet of 11/2-inch hose. The equipment also includes an ice auger for drilling into lake ice for water, hard suction, and a strainer. Foam concentrate, dry-chemical powder, nozzles, fire helmets, rechargeable flashlights, and gloves complete the equipment list.
The equipment is carried on two enclosed trailers that can be easily pulled by hand, snow machines, or ATVs. The trailers can be equipped with optional skis during winter operation. The two trailers are housed in an insulated shipping container that has been wired with an electric heater and lights.
Urban fire departments across the state have volunteered to fill air bottles for the villages. Alaska state troopers have agreed to transport full and empty bottles when needed. Some local air carriers serving the villages will transport the air bottles and other equipment at no charge.
Alaska Fire Service Training carries out the training, which consists of a highly modified Fire Fighter I curriculum. Exterior fire attack and fire prevention tactics and strategies appropriate to the village environment are stressed. Initial training consists of 30 hours of classroom and hands-on training designed to give students the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively operate the equipment.
Following the training, each department must conduct four drills in a two-month period. Once the training has been completed, the village firefighter is awarded a Rural Basic Firefighter certification.
Approximately 20 villages have already been given the Micro-Rural Fire equipment and training; 55 have Project Code Red equipment, and they are simply finishing their paperwork before beginning their training. As more villages become trained and equipped, Alaska’s rural fire losses should decline; the equipment already has proven effective in at least one village.
In the near future, Alaska’s bush population will be better prepared to fight community structure fires and protect itself from loss of life and property caused by fire. Through cooperation, training, innovation, and application of new technology, villagers with a “Carhartt Fire Department” are better prepared to fight community fires than they have ever been.
JAN DICK is a contract Project Code Red trainer and EMT instructor for the State of Alaska. He lives in North Pole, Alaska.
