While the city of Kodiak considers moving its lone fire department facility out the tsunami inundation zone, for now, the building remains where it has sat for more than half a century.
However, the geographic location of the building, and job of protecting the city, aren't the only risks for firefighters housed at the decades-old station.
"If we do get a tsunami, worst-case scenario, the station gets wiped out," said Kodiak Fire Dept. Chief James Mullican. "The building itself is unreinforced cinderblock walls, stuff of that nature. We're in a highly seismic area, so the concern is, if we get a good shaker, the building could collapse."
Mullican said the station was built in stages, beginning in the 1950's. The infrastructure also sustained significant damage during the earthquake in January of 2018 which was initially reported as magnitude-8.2 by the U.S. Geological Survey.