Plans to rebuild the burned-down South Tongass fire station near Ketchikan are finally underway. Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly approved a contract to rebuild the destroyed South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department at their meeting on Monday.
The South Tongass fire station was destroyed in an April fire last year. It happened in the early morning hours when no one was on duty. Officials said the fire stemmed from a piece of equipment on one of the vehicles in the bay.
The contract approved by the Assembly is with Dawson Construction for nearly $2 million. The Borough received over $2.2 million in insurance money after the fire.
Vice Mayor Glen Thompson said they plan to rebuild and restore what’s left of the burned-down structure. Then, work on designing things up to code.
“This is one of those situations where we have some of the money in hand, but we don’t have it all, but approved for way more than what we need. So this gets the thing moving along,” he said.
The transmittal letter said the new station will be wood-framed and two stories – similar to before the fire. It said it will feature staff offices, a mezzanine for storage, public meeting space, living quarters, and multiple bays for fire trucks and emergency vehicles.
It will also include some upgrades, like a sprinkler system and fire alarms, which the previous structure didn’t have.
The assembly approved the contract unanimously with almost no discussion.
