FAIRBANKS FIREMEN ARE NOW MOVING INTO MODERN, NEW FIRE HALL
By Colin Mick
Fairbanks firemen are cur
rently moving into what must
seem like a little corner of
heaven, compared with their old
quarters at 5th and Cushman.
Since last week they have been
moving equipment into the new
Fire Dept, building located on
7th Ave.
The new building is ultra modern
in construction and has many new
features that the fire department
is justifiably proud of. At present
there is garage space to spare on
the first floor, with room for two
more trucks.
One of these extra spaces will be
taken up by a 100 ft. aerial truck,
which should arrive in two or three
months. The department also hopes
to obtain a new pumper in the near
future. As new trucks are obtained,
old ones which have been borrowed
from Civil Defense will be returned.
Also located on the ground floor
is a well equipped shop for servic
ing the trucks. On the other side
of the floor are the offices of the
chief, the assistant chief and the
fire prevention officer. There is
also a large classroom and a physi
cal fitness room to help the fire
men keep in shape.
In addition, there is a glassed-in
flooi watch office from which one
man can keep an eye on the floor.
The floor watch also operates an
intercommunication system to page
personnel from the other floors.
In the basement are located the
heating and air conditioning plant.
The building is completely air con
ditioned to make it more comfort
able. This also eliminates having
Local Company
Sells Stock For
Mining Venture
The Alaska Exploration & Devel
opment Co.. Inc., of Fairbanks has
announced that they are offering
for sale 48 per cent of their out
standing stock for $180,000.
Tlie corporation, which is man
aged by Mark Ringstad and Duane
Hall, both of .Fairbanks and gradu
ates of the University of Alaska in
Mining Engineering, proposes to ex
amine known ore deposits, to pros
pect for new deposits, and to sam
ple, stake and sell the deposits to
large mining companies.
The firm plans to immediately be
gin investigating .known deposits of
iron ore, copper, asbestos, cinnabar,
uranium, lead, silver, tin, perlite,
and molybdenum.
The capital raised from the stock
sale will be utilized to carry out a
development program using a heli
copter, a portable core drill, and ’a
four-man field team. Part of the
monies will also be used to promote
the sale of the company's ore de
posits. ,
• • •
New Industry
(Continued from Page 1)
trapping gear, and other equipment
identified with the gold rush days.
Aiken said work had already begun
on the project, and that he hoped
to have the wildlife crews out this
summer.
Committee members suggested
that possibly help could be obtained
from the Fish and -Wildlife depart
ment. It was also suggested that
some of the animals in the zoo
could be used for experimental
purposes, such as was done with
mountain sheep and inusk-ox at the
University of Alaska almost 30
years ago.
The committee also approved a
proposal submitted by Bairds' Fair
banks Farm Inc for the construc
tion of an egg processing plant. The
firm requested $60,000 to finish
construction underway and to fin
ish ^equipping the chicken farm.
Janet Baird explained that the farm
mig^it be abile Jo- lower the retail
price of., lo^tfck'eggs 'by as much as
20 fer SSHR said the pkmt
would provide about 182,000 dozen
eggs a year, a little over half of the
present local consumption.
windows that open.
Although the building is now be
ing heated by its own system, plans
call for it to be connected to City
>team. The internal plant then will
become a standby unit. There is
ilso an emergency generator to sup
ply electricity in case of a power
ailure.
The heart of the fire station, the
lispatcher’s room, is also located in
the basement. From this room the
iispatcher receives all fire calls
jnd alarms. From the room he
alerts the firemen on duty, tells
hem where the fire is, and opens
the doors of the station for the
rucks.
The dispatch room is already in
operation, although it is not yet
fully completed. When completed,
he dispatcher will be able to lock
himself in for his four-hour shift
to ensure that there will be no dis
tractions.
Upper Floor
The upper floor is the living area
of the station. There are four eight
man dormitories and four officer's
rooms. There is also a locker room,
shower facilities, and a day room,
complete with kitchen and dining
area.
Also located on the upper floor
is the smoke room. This room is
used to test breathing gear, and to
acquaint the men with the gear.
The men go into the room with
their gear and a smoke bomb is ig
nited. The men are watched through
a large window. The observers can
also communicate with the men in
the room by means of an intercom
system.
Of course no fire station would
be complete without poles—the new
station hast three of them, two in
the large open area in the center
of the building and one in the day
| room. Although all three have cush
ioned landing areas, most of the
firemen seem to prefer the two in
the center area.
The pole in the day room is
equipped with three steel clamshell
doors to stop downstairs noise from
coming through. The doors are
opened hydraulically when 120
pounds of pressure are placed on
the pole.
Tough Pole
Unfortunately, most of the fire
! men are not used to grasping the
! pole tightly until they reach the
| bottom. Since they don’t grab the
pole tightly, the doors sometimes
don’t open, don’t open far enough,
or close as the man starts to slide
down. It calls for a slight adjust
ment in technique before one can
go down the pole without getting
a headache.
Probably the most prominent part
of the building is the hose room
where the hose is dried. The room,
located on the back of the station, is
seven stories high. To save the fire
men some effort, the room is
equipped with electric hoists to
pull up the hose.
The new fire station is definitely
one to be proud of, but then again
Fairbanks residents should be even
more proud of the fine job of fire
protection and prevention the de
partment provides. With the new
building, it should be even better.
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