What They Bought:

• Brush truck

How the Grant Has Helped:

Since the tiny rural community of Hope, Alaska, formed its own volunteer fire department in 2001, its only firefighting vehicle has been an old 15-passenger van used to pull water tank trailers (one trailer has a 300 gallon tank and the other has a 500 gallon tank). A 2003 Assistance to Firefighters grant changed all that, and the Hope/Sunrise Volunteer Fire Department now has a new brush truck.

Hope is a small rural community located at the northern end of the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, and mutual aid is more than 1 hour away. The town has historic buildings from its beginnings as a gold-rush mining town during the late nineteenth century. About 150 people live in Hope year-round, with another 50 living in the nearby community of Sunrise. During the summer months, the tourist trade increases the population on the Kenai Peninsula to as high as 150,000.

Since receiving the brush truck this summer, the Department has responded to six fires, including three that Chief Scott Sherritt believes could have turned into disasters if it hadn't been for the new brush truck. Soon after receiving the truck, the Department responded to a wildland fire that heavy winds were blowing toward Hope. "Without the capabilities of the new brush truck, the results might have been very different, " says Chief Sherritt. "Our biggest concern is the wildland/urban interface," he says, and notes that an infestation of spruce bark beetles has provided an unusual high amount of potential fuel for wildland fires. "We want to be able to defend our community from wildland fires," says Sherritt.

Soon after receiving the truck, the Department responded to a wildland fire that heavy winds were blowing toward Hope. "Without the capabilities of the new brush truck, the results might have been very different," says Chief Sherritt.

The fire department relies completely on local volunteers. A core group of 15-24 volunteers provide firefighting protection, and additional volunteers provide emergency medical services (EMS) and other support. Eight townspeople have trained to be EMS-paramedics. Hope/Sunrise VFD provides first responders to accidents that occur on Highway 1 where it crosses through the Kenai Peninsula. They receive about 40+ EMS calls per year. Being 80 miles from the nearest hospital (located in Anchorage), people with critical injuries have to be flown out by helicopter.

The residents of Hope and Sunrise provide the majority of the financial support to the Department, but AFG grants have provided a critical boost to its capabilities. A 2002 AFG grant provided basic firefighting and protective equipment, including pumps, hoses, SCBAs, etc.

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