Ketchikan / Alaska / United States
The North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department ( NTVFD ) was authorized by a special election on March 11, 2003. It serves a rural area of the borough north of the City of Ketchikan, an area previously served by the private, not-for-profit Pond Reef Volunteer Fire Department, which ceased operating on March 31, 2003. NTVFD was forced to start from scratch with no stations, no vehicles, and no equipment as all of the vehicles and equipment from the former private volunteer fire department were sold and shipped off the island. Fortunately there was a core of hard working, dedicated volunteers remaining that made this new borough volunteer department a success. NTVFD has come a long way! Now working from two fire stations, NTVFD covers an area of approximately 25 square miles and over 25 miles of paved and gravel roads. The protected population base is 3, 200. We have two engines, one 3, 500 gallon tanker/pumper, two 3, 500 gallon water tenders, two Advanced Life Support ambulances, and one heavy rescue unit. This site is dedicated to those hard working individuals who many, many times have put the department needs above their own and their familys. As Chief, I am humbled by their efforts. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough encompasses Revillagigedo Island in the southeast panhandle of Alaska. It is approximately 675 miles north of Seattle and 250 miles south of Juneau. There are no roads or bridges to the island so the only access is by air or boat. Due to the extremely mountainous coastal terrain the entire population of the NTVFD service area lives within one mile of the lone coastal highway. Although the size of the service area, as listed in this application, is only 18 square miles, it is a long, narrow area basically 18 miles by 1 mile. Approximately 15% of the area is zoned industrial or commercial. Major structures include a former pulp mill site that now contains a wood veneer mill, wood products testing lab, warehouses and two office buildings. Other industrial/commercial sites include several marinas, a small shipyard, warehouses, resort hotels and several gas station/convenience stores. There are also several churches and two elementary schools ( one public and one private ). The bulk of the area ( approximately 85% ) is residential with mostly wood framed single family homes and some duplexes. There are three other fire departments within the borough, the Ketchikan Fire Department ( KFD ) which provides service within the city limits of Ketchikan and the South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department ( STVFD ) which provides service in the rural area south of the Ketchikan city limits. There is also a crash/fire department that exists at the Ketchikan International Airport, just across Tongass Narrows from the City of Ketchikan. Equipment and training have already been and a mutual aid agreement between the departments is in place. Statistics compiled by the National Fire Data Center indicate that the state of Alaska was the lowest rated state in terms of annual fire deaths with 39 per million population. Alaska also suffers the highest average level of property loss per fire at $25, 712, which is over $10, 000 more than the next lowest state. The largest impediment to training for most rural communities in Alaska, including Ketchikan, is the high cost of sending firefighters to the lower 48 to attend courses. In fact the cost to send just one fire fighter to become FF1 trained can often exceed $6, 000 when you account for airfare ( $400 to $700 ), course tuition ( $2, 000 to $2, 500 ) and lodging and per diem ( $2, 000 to $3, 000 ). The public benefit to our service area is immeasurable, without North Tongass Fire Department our citizens would be without fire protection and 20 - 30 minute response time from neighboring departments would be the norm, also the ISO would rate our area a class 10 which would represent increases in homeowners insurance by over 60% The North Tongass Volunteer Fire Department started from scratch wit
