A central gathering spot for volunteer firefighters at the Tri-Valley Volunteer Fire Department in Healy is about to get a very special addition.
Volunteer Logan Merrell, a longtime Healy resident, came up with the idea after traveling to other firehouses in the Lower 48 for training.
“I saw all kinds of creative ways that other departments were displaying patches and thought, ‘Tri-Valley needs something like this.’”
He decided to build a table that would feature Alaska firefighter patches “because it is a place where we all come together to plan, train, eat and hang out,” Merrell said. “So I wanted a table that we could really enjoy for years to come.”
The plan is for the local fire department patches from the Denali Borough to be placed in the four corners: Anderson, Cantwell, McKinley Village and Tri-Valley volunteer
fire departments.
“I found a Healy power plant fire brigade patch that will be at the center, because the power plant is where the fire department pretty much started,” he added.