Denali Borough fire chiefs to meet every other week on Cantwell winter coverage

Denali Borough fire chiefs will meet roughly every other week to keep fire and EMS service running in Cantwell through the winter, new Emergency Manager Nathanael Grimes told the assembly Wednesday.

Grimes, who is also Anderson's fire chief, said the chiefs met earlier that day and have "some solutions in place" to get Cantwell through the winter.

Cantwell's all-volunteer department has struggled to recruit and keep volunteers, Alaska News reported Sept. 14. At a Sept. 23 meeting, Mayor Chris Noel said Cantwell's ambulance faces "the very real threat" of state decertification if volunteers cannot staff it.

Grimes said the borough will use Rural Health Transformation Program grants for longer-term change. Noel said the borough is targeting the program's current application period, which closes Oct. 28.

In the last cycle, projects the Alaska Municipal League submitted as a bundle were funded, Noel said: a $337,000 ambulance for Cantwell and a $698,000 rescue truck for the Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department, at no local cost.