South Tongass fire crews move back into rebuilt Station Four in Ketchikan

South Tongass Volunteer Fire Department crews moved back into rebuilt Station Four on Sept. 21, more than two years after a fire left the building unusable. The borough manager's report at that night's Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly meeting said crews were working through a punch list and planned an open house in October.

The station serves the South Tongass and Saxman areas. Future construction phases, including additional work and potential upgrades, will return to the Assembly for approval as insurance proceeds and funding are confirmed, according to the borough's project record.

The Assembly awarded Dawson Construction a contract in July 2025 covering design, code upgrades, operational improvements and partial construction to weather in the structure and begin mechanical and electrical work. Projections shifted through the year, from an August completion target to a late August or early September reopening, before crews actually moved back in late September.

The fire that forced the rebuild broke out April 9, 2024, and was out by 4:30 am, according to the April 15, 2024 manager's report. It destroyed four vehicles, including both of South Tongass' ambulances, and seriously damaged a fifth. The State Fire Marshal investigated the cause and origin.

Since the fire, the department has relied on an 18-year-old ambulance handed down from Valdez, Alaska News previously reported. During reconstruction, staff worked out of other facilities with loaned or donated equipment while Ketchikan and North Tongass crews provided mutual aid. By December 2024, the department was running a fire engine loaned by the State Fire Service Training Center. In June 2025, the borough reported the state would reimburse about $325,000 for the lost engine.

The Assembly's agenda for Tuesday, Oct. 20, listed a public hearing on $347,000 in federal money for a new ambulance and heart monitor, with the purchases listed at about $299,000 and $46,000. Alaska News previously covered the Assembly taking up the money.