Last Thursday, a house fire in Teller left six other buildings in danger of burning.
According to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD), Teller’s Mayor Blanch Garnie and Alaska State Troopers sent a request to the NVFD after local firefighting equipment could not fully contain a residential house fire. Only armed with 250-gallon cube tanks on a couple of pickup trucks, Teller authorities were worried that the fire would spread and endanger six other nearby structures.
In response to Teller’s request, NVFD deployed six firefighters with 3 Honda pumps, a 1,000-foot hose, and SCBA attack gear into Bering Air King Air and 208 Caravan planes. A second team of firefighters, who were not in the air, drove the 72 miles from Nome to Teller.
When firefighters arrived at 8:45pm Thursday, Teller citizens assisted firefighters in drilling holes through Grantley Harbor, placing a pump, and rolling out the water main line.
Through their combined efforts, NVFD personnel were able to enter the structure to contain the fire. According to NVFD, the burnt residence sustained major heat and smoke damage throughout but is still standing and can be repaired.
No other structures were affected and no injuries have been reported.
