The North Slope village of Anaktuvuk Pass has been short on fuel for about a week. Local officials say the shortage has left several homes without heat amid frigid temperatures and caused school closures.
The North Slope Borough declared an emergency last Friday to speed up fuel deliveries by land. Officials said that some air deliveries also resumed late last week, but reserves remain low.
"That got us out of the emergency, but we're not out of the fire yet," Acting City Mayor Matt Regen said.
Prolonged severe weather and mechanical issues with aircraft disrupted fuel deliveries to the community of about 400 residents, Regen said. Temperatures dropped below minus 45, and planes couldn't land for several days because of ice fog.
Everts Air Cargo delivers fuel to Anaktuvuk Pass, but the plane tasked with the deliveries had a mechanical problem last week, borough officials said in a press release. That led to low fuel levels for the city's 150,000-gallon diesel tank, borough said.
"A lot of people ran out of fuel," Regen said. "Fortunately, the planes arrived quick enough with enough fuel to get them back on within a day."
Residents were asked to use fuels sparingly and turn to eclectic heaters when possible. Diesel was rationed for essential operations.
"We were all having to conserve as best we could," Regen said. "Everybody was checking on neighbors, to make sure the elders were okay."
Regen said school was canceled because there was no gas for vehicles to pick up students, and it was too cold for them to walk. But he said the school building, which is also a local shelter, had enough fuel to stay operational.
Regen said that local power plant operators, school maintenance staff and water and sewer crews worked through the extreme weather to get the village through the crisis.
"This could have been way worse than it was," he said.
Borough officials said the emergency declaration allowed them to deliver fuel using the ice road without waiting for routine state and federal approvals.
Everts resumed fuel deliveries late last week, and Wright Air Services and Ryan Air have also been helping deliver gas, Regen said. The borough estimated that a total of 18,500 gallons of diesel and 20 drums of unleaded gasoline were delivered this week. An additional 4,500 gallons of fuel were expected to be delivered this week using the ice road.
Still, the borough urged residents in a press release to keep conserving fuel until the city replenished its reserves.
A snowstorm and blizzard conditions were forecast for the area beginning Friday.
In the long-term, borough officials said they were designing a 250,000-gallon tank for the village to expand storage capacity. They added that Everts was planning to use two more diesel-capable aircraft starting next summer.
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