Tension between the Talkeetna Fire Department and Matanuska-Susitna Borough fire chiefs potentially threatens to leave this Susitna Valley climbing and tourist destination without a hometown firefighting force.
Eric Chappel, a Talkeetna fire captain and 17-year responder, got sideways last week with Mat-Su chiefs when he was preparing to use his pickup to pull upright an overturned trailer blocking the Parks Highway. Supervisors said that would violate borough emergency protocols meant to protect responders and public safety. Chappel said he defied deputy emergency services director Ken Barkley after Barkley told him not to lend a tow strap to the trailer’s owner, who was not hurt. Before that, Chappel said, Willow-Caswell fire chief Mahlon Greene instructed him not to flip the trailer over himself because he was opening the borough up to the risk of a lawsuit by acting like a civilian instead of a responder.
Procedure dictates that responders in a similar situation generally wait for Alaska State Troopers and a tow truck to arrive.
At the scene of the Aug. 31 accident, Barkley told Chappel he couldn’t respond to any future incidents until he met with borough officials to talk about what happened. Chappel posted an angry message on a local Facebook group last Wednesday saying he would no longer serve as a responder.
He said in a phone interview Friday that at least five of the eight core Talkeetna firefighters told him they wouldn’t respond either out of solidarity.