Houston, a community of about 2,000, is asking the Matanuska Susitna Borough to take over its fire and emergency operations.
Houston mayor Virgie Thompson spoke to the Borough Assembly at a special meeting Tuesday night.
Thompson said that Houston’s present fire chief, Tom Hood, abruptly left the post earlier this month, giving less than 48 hours notice.
Houston does not have a police department, and it’s fire chief also heads the city’s emergency services response. Thompson said they needed help.
“There’s only one thing that I could think of to do immediately, and that was to call the Borough,” Thompson said.
The Borough’s emergency services manager, Casey Cook, will help out the community until September 1. They’ll discuss a longer term solutions at future meetings.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
