Volume 6, number 6, June 2004 Firebreak Summer is finally underway. The hot weather arrived just in time for the Annual Garage Sale, which was a great success thanks to the Firefighters’ Auxiliary, who organizes this fundraising event, and to everyone who contributed. The fire station parking lot was nearly full of folks looking to lighten their load a bit—and others finding bargains of all kinds. Volunteers staffed tables of items donated for the sale, and Ray Hadley helped out by selling donated baked goods, hot dogs, and soda. The result of all this effort was $740 for the Auxiliary, which uses the money to aid various fire department activities. If you missed this year’s sale, make sure to put it into your calendar for next year. It’s a don’t-miss event that is growing with each year. Another summer highlight is coming up soon. The July 4th parade and picnic will be taking place at the park, where rumor has it that Tom Richardson will be roasting a whole pig in what is quickly becoming a revived Ester tradition. The fire department will be playing host to the Firefighters’ Challenge, in which kids of all ages get a chance to put themselves to the test on a fun and challenging obstacle course to get a taste of what firefighters do. These activities do require quite a bit of preparation, and anyone who wants to help out should call Angie of the Firefighters’ Auxiliary at 479-6858. With ten runs, May was a busy month for EVFD. Our annual total as of the end of May was forty runs of all kinds; this is around average. In addition to four medical calls and an automatic fire alarm (no fire), EVFD responded to two motor vehicle accidents. In one, the driver had already left the scene. In the other, a single-vehicle motorcycle accident, the driver suffered some injuries. A tree was felled on Parks Ridge Road, hitting a power line and catching fire. Thanks to the wet weather, the fire did not spread on the ground. However, the tree on the power line did present a potentially dangerous situation. If you are cutting trees near power lines, please call GVEA for consultation or call an expert to handle the tree. It takes experience and specialized knowledge to accurately predict which way a tree will fall, and it is not worth your property or your life to calculate wrongly. A structure fire on May 22 consumed a cabin on Violin Circle. The structure was fully involved when EVFD firefighters arrived after having been called by the property owners. The owners, who lived in the cabin, escaped unharmed along with multiple pets. The cabin and its contents, however, suffered almost total damage. A hiker discovered an open mine shaft on the corner of Isberg and Oboe, which was investigated by borough officials and a rescue team from UAF. They found a shaft opening approximately eight feet square, and the shaft itself to be thirty feet deep. The shaft was empty, and was later filled in by the borough because of the hazard it posed. Such shafts are not uncommon around the Ester area, and many have been forgotten over the course of our long mining history. Use caution if you are in the area of an old shaft, and never enter it yourself. There is no way of knowing how safe or stable the structure is—especially after what may be several decades (the first mining in this area was done almost 100 years ago). Stay safe, and we’ll see you at the July 4th parade and picnic! | ||
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