Bear Creek starts off the year with bang!

Posted on: January 7, 2009 | jenapetersen | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:

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The Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department responded to a reported fully involved shop on Old Exit Glacier Road at 6:50 am on January 1^stgiving the volunteers an early morning and a kick start to the New Year.

In the chilling 7 degrees above zero weather the Department responded with 3 Units and 8 Volunteers finding a smaller building behind the shop fully involved. Seward Fire Department was also initially requested, but cancelled after Bear Creek’s arrival.

The Building was quickly extinguished with hand lines using the department’s Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS). The foam acts as a fire suppressant allowing the water to penetrate and cover the fuels cutting off the oxygen supply. Water use was 2,500 gallons with a total of 6,500 gallons available on scene. Bear Creeks rescue pumper with the Compressed Air Foam System was the first such unit purchased by the Kenai Peninsula Borough in 2004. Now several such units are across the Borough as other Fire Departments have adopted the technology, decreasing the water needed to extinguish the fires and decreasing water damage at incidents.

The building was a total loss authorities listed the cause of the fire as suspicious. Seward Fire Department and the Alaska State Troopers also assisted with the investigation.

The Department Volunteers meet every Thursday night at 7:30 pm and are always in need of apparatus drivers, operators and firefighters. The Department responded to 133 incidents in 2008, down from a high of 164 runs in 2007, but still above its 5 year average. Please call the Bear Creek Fire Station at 907-224-3345 if you have any questions.