PORT PROTECTION-AK <br />
“I’m Rebuilding!”. Jack Mason announced this morning at a community debriefing regarding the fire that engulfed most of his business on the evening of February 19th .<br />
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“We may be a small community,” he said, “but we are one big family.” <br />
Wooden Wheel Cove Trading Post is owned and operated by Jack Mason in the rural community of Port Protection, Alaska on the northern tip of Prince of Whales Island. It is predominantly a fishing community of about 60 residents. With no road access most of our goods come by floatplane or by boat. <br />
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“The Store” is the gathering place for the Port Protection community, we meet around the coffee pot in the morning, pick up mail when the plane comes in, purchase fuel for boats and home generators or buy snacks and libations to share with friends on the dock. It is our ‘Downtown’. It’s Jack who keeps it all together, working circles around everyone with a smile and a joke even at the young age of 80 ‘something’.<br />
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The store supplies power to itself, seven residences, radio tower and the ACS/AT&T communications system with two large generators alternated on a 12 hour basis. We know when Jack gets to the store and when he goes home by the hiss of the radio when he changes generators. At 7:16 pm on Saturday night, my radio started hissing, I wondered why Jack was going home so late.<br />
Power was lost in some of the homes and to the boats connected to the power source. People looked outside to see what was going on.<br />
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Gary Trefferies saw the orange glow behind the generator shed and immediately got on channel 16 with an urgent message for all who could, to get to the store immediately. Tom Phillips heard the call from the radio call and alerted the Point Baker Fire crew requesting more help and the fire boat. Jubal, who lives in one of the apartments above the store and directly behind the generator shed, stepped out to see why he had no electricity. He saw the glow of flames growing and immediately started pulling fire hoses out of the firebox and getting them hooked up to the nearby hydrant.<br />
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The community quickly mustered at the store. Leland removed propane tanks from the vicinity. Leslie and Christa hooked up another hydrant from a house nearby.<br />
By now there was a cacophony of sound, smell and flame. People yelling, crackling of flames, explosions around the generator shed. What hoses could be used were fighting the flames, steam and smoke made vision near impossible until another explosion or burst of flames brought light to the chaos. <br />
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“OK, turn it on …wait….turn it down….OK turn it back on” called by down the line of community members, got another hose online as any able hands helped to be useful in anyway.<br />
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Here there is no 911, a simple call does not bring a cavalcade of trained firemen to attack and control the flames that threaten life and community, here the firemen are, Jack, at 83 and Johnny at 14, manning hoses next to the flame. <br />
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A strong Southeast wind came up and fanned the flames spreading into the warehouse where fuel additives, Freon bottles, and batteries are stored. Once compromised the warehouse became very dangerous and bigger than our few hoses could handle. <br />
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Garden hoses were gathered for yet another hydrant, Roy carried the hoses over a hillside attaching them as they arrived to prevent the fire from reaching the fuel tanks 80 ft away. Seven thousand gallons of burning fuel was quickly becoming a dangerous reality. <br />
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The parameters of the fire were dark, fire fighters couldn’t see beyond the few feet they were fighting, but through all this chaos a unity formed. People on the roof couldn’t see into the blaze, people inside fighting the flames permeating the store walls couldn’t see what was going on outside. Those in skiffs on the water carried communication to the fighters. <br />
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From the water it looked as though the blaze would win the fight. <br />
Just when all looked bleak, the fire boat appeared from Pt Baker. <br />
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Within minutes of arriving on the scene, sea water pumps spewed thousands of gallons up onto the flames. <br />
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The wind died down and a blizzard of mammoth snowflakes began to fall. The fishing vessel Daniel G shed streaming light to the scene and making visibility possible, we were able to set up ladders and enter into the lodge with hoses to douse the red hot embers. <br />
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The air was thick, wet and cold. A shed was set up with oxygen tanks in the likely case of smoke inhalation and first aid equipment was at the ready if any were needed. <br />
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Hours had passed since our alarming phone calls. <br />
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Those on the roofs came down wet and cold, soaked from the hoses and no longer heated through from the flames. A chill crept in. <br />
Those who had quite some distance to return home took long skiff rides or hikes through the woods. You could hear coughing everywhere. Auxillary power lasted 24 hrs maintaining power to phones and internet, when that went down we were all alone.<br />
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For hours after, the flare-ups would continue…even into the next day but the fire was dead…..we won! <br />
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In the days that follow, like the flames that smoldered under gallons of water we are left feeling confused and overwhelmed smothered by unavoidable weight that takes hold when your life and your core has been rattled. We can sift through the rubble, be thankful no lives were lost, and proud of the heroes that stepped forward, but we have experienced loss, and vulnerability that cannot easily be understood by those that need do nothing more than reach for the phone when life tests your community. Where there was once the center of a community is ash, and we won’t know today or tomorrow what may rise from that ash. <br />
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Jack has decided to rebuild, “much to the dismay of my family” he says “But this is my life.”<br />
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Further update: The FV Rusty Rose came in off the fishing grounds and tied up to supply power from the boat to our communications system and we have phone service once again. He stayed for nearly a week running our systems until a 38kw generator got here.<br />
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My daughters have set up a donation site at <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.portprotectionalaska.org/">www.portprotectionalaska.org</a> where anyone can make secure donations through PayPal. These funds will be used to help pay for clean up and the rebuilding of our community. We are humbled by the generosity of friends and family near and far. <br />
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