Too close to home …

Frontiersman editorial board

It's easy in Alaska to think of yourself as being a little removed from the fads, trends and assorted goings-on of the Lower 48.

Being a continent away from the recent terrorist attacks has led to a more pronounced feeling of removal -- sometimes to the point of feeling guilty for not being more shaken, more changed by the events of Sept. 11.

But a potentially hazardous package found at the new Wasilla Sears location Wednesday recently brought the turmoil a lot closer to home.

The package, apparently containing a powdery substance, was opened in the freight receiving area by a Sears employee. After the package was opened, it was dropped, sending out a cloud of powder. Authorities were contacted, the package was contained and state health department personnel tested with nasal swabs the five employees known to have had contact with the package.

While details are still coming in about exactly what the package contained, the residual effects of the threat will remain even after we know exactly what it was.

Seeing members of a hazardous materials team pad like aliens through areas once common and familiar brings up feelings that somehow the community has been taken over by characters in a Ray Bradbury novel. It's a lasting image, and one that tends to shatter feelings of blissful isolation from the worries of the rest of the nation.

But thanks to the fast and resourceful response of borough public safety officials, along with the many other public officials that showed up to guarantee that the situation was efficiently handled, a sense of security was maintained.

We may not be able to put up walls at the border and keep out the perils that are now plaguing other areas of the United States, but thanks to dedicated volunteers and employees, we can be assured that if and when Alaska is threatened, people are at the ready to respond and preserve public safety.

Hats off to the fast action of the emergency responders who came in from every level of public safety in the borough, and to those from outside the Valley who helped secure the area.

Because you are willing to risk your lives in tough situations, the rest of us can feel a little safer in our day-to-day

activities.