The community of Salcha is around 30 miles outside of Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway. The roughly 1,000 residents like to keep to themselves and do things differently. According to Fire Chief Tim Biggane, the Salcha Fire and Rescue is no different.
“It is a department that is unlike any other fire department. We don’t run our department off of a tax base, we run our fire department off of a membership base.”
Residents of Salcha who want fire service pay a yearly fee and then if there is a fire, the fire department responds for free. This is different than all the other fire service areas in the Fairbanks North Star Borough that factor the cost of fire service into property taxes.
Biggane said that the subscription doesn’t mean they deny service to anyone. He clarified that they still will come and put the fire out; they just charge an hourly fee for the equipment and firefighters.