Ketchikan area officials issue disaster declaration after blaze guts fire station, destroys equipment [Video]

KETCHIKAN, Alaska (KTUU) – Ketchikan Area Mayors are taking action after a major fire at the South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department (STVFD) last Tuesday left the station unusable and five emergency vehicles with serious damage.

On Friday the mayor’s of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, City of Ketchikan and City of Saxman signed a Joint Declaration of Local Disaster Emergency in response to the building fire.

In a Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly meeting on Monday, the body approved a resolution approving the declaration put forward by the Ketchikan area mayors in a vote of 7-0.

The declaration further requests that Gov. Mike Dunleavy issue a disaster declaration and for the state to provide additional assistance to the borough during this time of need.

The fire broke out in the early morning hours of April 9 and destroyed two medical services units, one firetruck and left the whole building unusable for the foreseeable future. No one was inside the station when the fire started …