Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Dept Seward AK Alaska

Bear Creek Volunteer Fire & EMS History l People l Service Area l Apparatus

History

In 1976 a roadside food market caught fire during the night at mile 5.8 of the Seward Highway. A call for help dispatched Seward Volunteer Fire Department with one truck and several volunteers from their station 5 miles away. After arriving on scene, the engine quickly emptied its 500 gallons of water. The apparatus wasn't equipped to draft water and could only refill through a hydrant. Unfortunately, there were no hydrants within 4 miles and the market burned to the ground. After this disasterous fire, friends and neighbors of the roadside market united to establish the Bear Creek Fire Service Area.

Our doors officially opened in 1977, when the picture above left, was taken. Since that original building was constructed, the structure has expanded to include a second apparatus building and a pump shed. Although the and building has served us well throughout the years, we've outgrown it and plans for a new fire station are currently underway.

Board of Directors in 1977: Fire Chief Leonard Weimar, Assistant Fire Chief Kerry T. Martin, Robert R. Estes, Robert F. Ashely, Eric Traber and Edward Zimmerman

The People of Bear Creek Volunteer Fire & EMS

The department began with a handful of volunteers; today we average 35 people - many who have give 5, 10, or more years of service! Almost most of our volunteers enjoy responding to emergencies, many give in other ways also. We have volunteers for administrative tasks, maintenance tasks, mechanical tasks, bookkeeping, fund-raising, cooking, cleaning, and more. (And you guessed it - we'd like to have you too!)

Service Area

Bear Creek Fire Service Area stretches from Mile 3.5 to Mile 8 of the Seward Highway. (Click here to view a map of the area). The area is mainly comprised of residential areas and several commercial businesses but we are also responsible for the protection of the Alaska Railroad, National Park Service, State Parks, and the US Forest Service.

The general objective of the Bear Creek Fire Service Area is to provide rapid and professional volunteer services to area residents. This includes fire prevention, education and suppression, search and rescue, and emergency medical services.

Under mutual aid agreements, Bear Creek also responds to incidents outside the service area. We currently have 25 volunteers who are medically trained as BLS providers, ETTs, and EMTs.