Fire training at Colony barn halted

MAT-SU -- A Colony-era barn that was scheduled to be burned as part of a training program for Mat-Su Borough firefighters has been saved for the moment -- but for exactly how long no one seems to know, and the barn's owner says no one has contacted him to take it off his hands.

"Now that they've stopped the burning, nobody's contacted me at all. They kind of got done what they needed to be done and now I haven't heard from them," said A.J. Schwichtenberg of the preservationists.

Schwichtenberg's company, North Star Sand and Gravel, operates a gravel pit off Jensen Road, south of the Parks Highway.

According to Mat-Su Borough public safety director Kevin Koechlein, the barn was scheduled to be burned down during a series of training exercises known as "live fire" training. Koechlein said borough manager John Duffy told him not to burn the barn.

Fran Seager-Boss of the borough's cultural resources division said she wasn't sure exactly who put the burn on hold, but that she contacted Palmer Historical Society members when Duffy asked her to find someone who might want to save the barn.

"[Duffy] asked me to see if I could find someone to move it and try and find a way to preserve it," Seager-Boss said.

"Typically the EMS does not burn down historical buildings. The owner didn't think there was much merit to the barn, but the community felt that it was one of the better preserved barns in the community, so his assessment is erroneous."

The barn on Schwichtenberg's property was once owned by Henry and Edna Jensen. The Jensens received a 40-acre plot from the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp. (ARRC) in a drawing in May 1935. The drawing was a turning point for the Matanuska Colony project, a Depression-era social program in which about 200 families from the Midwest -- and one from Oklahoma -- were brought to the Alaska Territory. Jackie De Jong, ARRC's current manager, said the records at ARRC don't show exactly when the barn was built.

Schwichtenberg wants the barn out of the way of his gravel operation. He offered it to the fire officials, and he said he believes he was putting it to good use.

Fire officials tend to agree with him.

"I'm guessing by the time we got done somewhere between 60 and 80 people would've been through," said Koechlein.

Koechlein said the Jensen barn was ideal for fire-training exercises because it is easy to get to and doesn't have modern hazards such as vinyl or asbestos, which would have to be removed before live fire training could happen. Volunteers have already spent time prepping the barn with drywall so that multiple exercises could be performed there.

Koechlein also said opportunities for live fire training are becoming less common because of a lack of older buildings for exercises, such as those planned for the Jensen barn. The fact that fewer structure fires take place every year also compounds the problem -- not just in Alaska, but on a nationwide scale.

"Normally fewer fires is seen as a good thing -- and it is a good thing -- But the down side is that you have no way to train the new people," he said.

Koechlein said the decrease in structure fires was due to a combination of factors, including better building materials, sprinkler systems, and the use of fire extinguishers and smoke alarms.

Koechlein said Valley firefighters will soon have a permanent live fire- training center in the form of a steel building at Station 62, Mile 6.9 Knik-Goose Bay Road. But even with that facility in place, firefighters will still need to train with full-on structure fires.

"You'll get some of the same fire behavior, and some of the same experience, but it won't be the same as having a building," Koechlein said. ". . . we'll still try to do structure burns when we can."

Seager-Boss was directed to Doug Olson, who said that he, along with a partner, moves and saves aging buildings around the Valley. Olson said one of Schwichtenberg's employees at the gravel operation allowed him to check out the barn. Olson said the barn would survive a move.

"I do have somebody who is real interested in it who lives nearby that wants to make it into a house," Olson said, "but I don't want to say anything more about that."

That's because Olson hasn't spoken to Schwichtenberg yet, and didn't know when negotiations could start. He said he could arrange to have the barn moved within a week if a deal were struck with Schwichtenberg.

"It could be dropped down and moved off to the side so (the gravel pit) could keep working around it," Olson said. Olson has moved buildings before, and said taking the barn off its foundation is one of the hardest parts of the job. He also said finding a new home for the barn that's not too far away is important because barns are tall.

"You end up lifting power lines," he said, "Every time you move a line it gets expensive."

Seager-Boss said she doesn't know exactly how many Matanuska Colony barns are left -- she estimated 15 to 20.

LeRoi Heaven of the Wasilla-Knik Historical Society's preservation committee said he thought the number was closer to a dozen. Heaven owns the roof and loft portion of a Colony barn, which he has installed on his property without the walls. He received it from a neighbor who was unable to sell the barn whole.

"People want to buy them, and then they find out how much it costs to move it and change their mind," Heaven said.

Schwichtenberg said his barn is in "a holding pattern" for the moment. He said he's disappointed about not providing the fire training as he originally planned, but is open to other options despite the lack of offers.

"I haven't got nothing against the historical society or anybody else," he said. "but I'm not sure if anybody can afford to move it."