Homer Alaska - News -

Anchor Point fire chief Keith Sullivan, who spent about a half-hour Saturday showing off the new Nikolaevsk fire station and its fleet of four shiny firefighting vehicles to local kids, answered matter-of-factly that when your mom and dad are in the car and they see the ambulance in their rear-view mirror, the word "ambulance" is spelled the right way.

The fire station was a big hit with the kids and with their parents, who have been trying since the early 1990s to get the building built.

Photographer: Aaron Selbig, Homer News Local children get a closer look at a fire engine at the Sept. 13 open house for the new Nikolaevsk fire station.

"It's been a dream for a long time and it feels good to see it finished," said Bob Craig, administrator for the Anchor Point Fire Service Area. "This will cut an hour from the emergency response time here."

The new building features a large bay for storing and maintaining vehicles, a small office, restrooms and a room dedicated to training volunteers. At the Saturday open house, the training room was well stocked with food and beverages supplied by the Fresh Sourdough Express Bakery and the vehicle bay was filled with local residents milling about, checking out the new facility.

Anchor Point firefighter Dan Dorvall spoke to the crowd about the history of the project while Craig drew raffle tickets out of a hat and gave away a slew of fire safety-related prizes, including fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and first aid kits.

"From 1988 to 1996, at least one building in Nikolaevsk would burn to the ground every year. The Anchor Point Volunteer Fire Department would do the best they could, but it just took too long to get here," said Dorvall.

In 1999, said Dorvall, six people from the village were certified as firefighters by the APVFD and Nikolaevsk received its first fire truck, Engine Number 2, which remains part of the fleet.

In 2000, said Dorvall, the property on which the new building sits was purchased. After that, it was a matter of finding funding. About $700,000 of the $1.1 million total cost for the building came from local taxes, according to Craig. Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Milli Martin, Mayor John Williams and borough grant manager Bonnie Golden worked to acquire the rest of the money, which eventually came in the form of a community development grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"All of our volunteers stepped up and made this happen. Without them, this building would be just a building," said Dorvall. "It took some time to get this done, but good things take time."

Presently the community of Nikolaevsk has seven volunteer firefighters and five Emergency Medical Technicians, all of whom were trained by the APVFD.

One of them, Lydia Brown, has been with the department for three years and will act as chief of Nikolaevsk station.

"This is really nice. It will make things safer here and we'll be able to take better care of our equipment," said Brown.

Of the station's four vehicles, two are fire engines, one is an ambulance and the other a rescue truck. They hope to soon add a fifth vehicle, a brand new $130,000 ambulance that will be dedicated to the new station. That vehicle has been funded by a federal grant and has been placed out to bid.

Now that Nikolaevsk has a new building, new equipment and new firefighting vehicles, it needs some new firefighters, said Craig and Dorvall.

"I would ask that the younger folks step up and join us. Help us make this community a better place for all of us," said Dorvall to the group of children gathered inside the new fire station. "Who wants to be a firefighter when they grow up?"

About twenty little hands, including one belonging to the kid who asked why "ambulance" was spelled backwards, shot straight up into the air.