14 years in the making: Central Mat-Su opens new station and training complex

WASILLA — Standing in front of one of the most heavily traveled and dangerous roads in the Valley, Mat-Su Central Fire Department held the grand opening of Station 6-2 on Saturday.

With increasing population and the largest concentration of homes in the Mat-Su Valley, the Central Mat-Su Fire Department Station 6-2 will not only serve the 140 square-mile fire service area from the new station on Knik-Goose Bay Road in Wasilla, but increase the capabilities of the Mat-Su Borough’s fire training, operations, and logistics.

“Sometimes you come up with these dreams and you really wonder is it going to come to fruition, and it’s an honor today to see that happen,” said {span}Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley{/span}.

The department serves over half of the assessed tax value in the borough and over half of the population as the fastest growing area in the state. Mat-Su Borough Mayor Vern Halter said that the borough as a whole is growing by at least 2,500 residents a year. Halter was proud to stand in front of the new fire station and thanked the department in particular for their fast and adequate response to the McKinley Fire on Aug. 17.

“This facility is going to advance our fire capabilities immensely” said Halter.

The existing structure fire training tower had to be moved to make way for the new 6-2. The original two-bay station 6-2 lies adjacent and will become the new logistics center for CMS FD. New CMS FD Chief Michael Keenan noted that during the McKinley Fire, firefighters were in desperate need of hose. Though all the fire stations could contribute, it took extra time to round up hose from each station. Now the old station 6-2 will serve as a warehouse for fire supplies in the event of such need.

The CMS FD serves the central area with eight fire stations, averaging over 1,800 calls a year and rising. The CMS recently hired six new full-time firefighters, which brings the number of total responders for the CMS FD up to 100.

“This is really a commitment to public safety and it’s also a commitment to the safety of our first responders,” said Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Dan Mayfield. “The training that this building will allow us to do on a 12-month cycle will safe firefighter first responder lives.”

The original plot was only five acres, but through over a decade of planning, the land Station 6-2 sits on will not only serve the residents in the central area, but host a training complex on the 74 acres it now sits on. The site itself required over 200,000 pounds of backfill excavation. The building contains 115 tons of concrete and rebar, 36 of those tons alone for the 21,000 gallon water tank, and 341,000 pounds of structural steel. Station 6-2 now houses truck, tender, brush and rescue 6-2 as well as other support apparatus, including ladder trucks which had not previously been at Station 6-2. Keenan said that one of the ladder trucks had been used in dog and owner rescue on Thursday.

“It’s an incredible borough that will serve the department and the borough community for years to come,” said Keenan.

The training capabilities increased by the expansion of station 6-2 are immense. The new building holds four training rooms with training bays and the entire 74-acre property can be used for various training exercises. The 21,000-gallon water tank allows for advanced structural fire response in the training tower and an additional command tower for supervision of the training operations. As firefighting is one of the most dangerous professions in the country, Keenan and the rest of the borough leaders that spoke feel strongly that increased training capabilities will result in safer firefighters. As hundreds of spectators, elected officials, and first responders gathered to hear the grand opening speeches, Saturday afternoon traffic on Knik-Goose Bay passed by. Some motorists honked in approval at the new fire station as they passed.

“The reason we’ve had to grow is because our community has grown. You’re looking at one of the busiest corridors in the Valley out here and this is where our calls are and we need to grow with that and that’s why some of those had that vision 15, 14 years ago and here we are today getting to see this done,” said Barkley.