The City of Emmonak has issued a disaster declaration after a fire destroyed five commercial fishing buildings last month, causing $3 million of damage.
The city manager has sent the declaration to Gov. Bill Walker and the Alaska State Legislature, requesting $750,000 in emergency funding.
That money would pay for a new fire truck, cover upgrades to city water lines, and match the City of Emmonak’s donation to the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association (YDFDA).
In addition to owning the five destroyed buildings, the CDQ association runs Emmonak’s commercial fishing and processing industry, which employs almost 2,000 people around the Yukon River Delta.
Without emergency aid, Emmonak City Manager Martin Moore said the fire’s damage could cripple the area’s economy.
“The community cannot afford to miss a fishing season and the people and businesses will suffer irreparable harm without immediate assistance to rebuild in time for the 2016 season,” he wrote in the disaster declaration.
The city itself is donating $150,000 to the YDFDA. That donation will cut water usage fees in half for subsidiary Kwik’Pak Fisheries, provide four acres of land to rebuild on at half the standard rate, and allow free use of the city’s heavy equipment to clean up debris from the fire.
Rep. Neal Foster (D-Nome) will request emergency funding before the state legislature on behalf of the City of Emmonak.
Laura Kraegel covers Unalaska and the Aleutian Islands for KUCB . Originally from Chicago, she first came to Alaska to work at KNOM, reporting on Nome and the Bering Strait Region. (laura@kucb.org / 907.581.6700)
