Butte fire department celebrates 50 years

BUTTE -- If your Butte home caught fire in 1953, you'd better have been a member of the Butte Fire Association, or have had a ten-spot handy.

Before the creation of the Mat-Su Borough made levying taxes a possibility, the Butte Fire Association fought wildland, brush and structure fires, using equipment paid for solely from $10 membership dues and money raised through community fundraisers.

"If you were a member of the association, you'd get fire service," said Butte fire chief Charles Von Gunten. "If you weren't, they might show up and fight the fire, then ask you for the $10."

The Butte community is gearing up to celebrate 50 years of community cooperation Saturday at an event commemorating the June 1953 organization of the association. A host of firefighting and public safety equipment will be on hand Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fire hall, located near mile 11 of the Old Glenn Highway.

A vehicle extrication demonstration is planned, along with a fire extinguisher demonstration, a deck gun demonstration and demonstrations of turnout gear and air packs. Numerous firefighting vehicles will be on display. Rides will be given on Engine 2-14, and visitors can get free blood pressure checks and more. Drawings will be held each hour for prizes for goods, meals and services at area businesses.

When the Butte Fire Association officially organized in 1953, about 10 men were on the force, organized by William "Bud" Barnhardt. They'd been fighting fires previous to that organizational date, but their group became official when the association was formed. It was a members-only fire service area, and dues were $10 a year. The department held dances, bingo nights, raffles and spaghetti feeds to raise money for equipment and operations, and it depended solely on community support.

Their equipment wasn't fancy, and it wasn't new. The department's first engine, housed today outside Wasilla at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry, was a 1942 Chevrolet that was originally used by civil defense troops. It served the Butte community from 1953 to 1972 before it was taken out of service. The department had two tanker trucks, both previously used as military fuel trucks. Those trucks remained in service well into the 1980s, Von Gunten said. They, along with a new engine purchased in 1972, were painted white -- an act that became tradition for the department, and continues today.

Most of the department's equipment -- nozzles, hoses, fittings and more, were surplus items from the military or civil defense. Von Gunten said the department still has field bandages that date back to World War II.

Upon establishment of the Mat-Su Borough in 1964, the name was changed to the Butte Volunteer Fire Department. With the taxing power of the borough, the department no longer had to rely on donations and fundraisers to operate, although Von Gunten said the department had been steadily funded since its early days.

"When it first started out, it was pretty shaky," Von Gunten said. "Mr. B (Barnhardt) kept it going, kept it strong. Now, it's good and strong."

Today, the department is made up of 24 firefighters and three Explorer students. They protect countless visitors and about 2,805 citizens within its 42.5 square miles of service area, and are called out an average of 60 times each year. Although they serve more people, that's half the amount of calls from recent years, Von Gunten said. He cited a year in the 1970s when the department received 120 fire calls. More people were clearing land and using inferior buildings, Von Gunten said, and, with heat provided mostly by wood-burning stoves, the mixture spelled disaster. The advent of natural gas heating did a lot to reduce the amount of calls the department is called out on, he said.

Changes in their response equipment have made it easier to respond quickly to calls. The department's fleet is in the process of growing from 12 to 14 vehicles, with four engines, three tanker trucks, two brush vehicles, three command vehicles and a soon-to-be converted Jim Creek access vehicle that will be used for rescue calls in territory other vehicles would be unable to respond to.

Butte's volunteer staff is on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week and, in addition to fighting fires and attending weekly training sessions, firefighters also volunteer many hours of time for community-related activities such as fire education and community patrols.

For more information about the celebration or to learn about opportunities to become an emergency on-call responder, contact Kathleen Krug, the Mat-Su Borough's volunteer coordinator, at 373-8800.