Girdwood Fire Department wrecked ambulance replaced

A 1992 ambulance is a temporary replacement for the Girdwood Volunteer Fire Department while another ambulance is being repaired following a collision last month. Photo courtesy of GVFD Chief Bill Chadwick

By Ken Smith

Last month a Girdwood Fire Department ambulance was in an accident causing $25,000 damage. Volunteer firefighter and EMT, Robert Mullowney was the driver when the ambulance was struck by an oncoming vehicle while driving northbound up the Seward Highway.
Mullowney was transporting a patient involved in an earlier vehicle accident when the medic unit collided with a Nissan Pathfinder that spun across the center line after breaking to pull over for the ambulance causing the vehicle to slide into the ambulance’s path. Nobody was seriously injured in the accident.
It was the worst accident in the department’s history, which for the most part has been accident free. The expected time of repair for the damaged ambulance is two months. In the meantime, the department received a temporary replacement ambulance, a 1992 ambulance from the Anchorage-wide EMS.
“It’s really old and not too reliable,” said Girdwood Fire Chief, Bill Chadwick, “but it’s better than a snow machine or sled.”
The replacement ambulance has well over 100,000 miles on it compared to the damaged 2000 model which has 96,000 miles. The department also has a newer 2003 ambulance with 30,000 miles. A new ambulance would cost an estimated $160,000.
Chadwick said he hopes to add one more ambulance to the fleet of two when the cruise ship tax is allocated later this year. The Girdwood fire departments budget this year is $340,000, and its total operating budget including the EMS division is $522,000.
Chadwick said intergovernmental charges drive up costs and add to the overall budget. He said the maintenance costs alone this year due to the charges will account for $52,000. The ICG accounted for $1.6 million of the Anchorage Fire Department’s overall budget.
“By the time they get done with these charges, it doesn’t reflect what’s really in the budget for each department,” Chadwick said.
Chadwick believes there’s a lack of accountability in the system which lends itself to unnecessary cost overruns in the budget.
“We questioned last year a charge of $72,000 for facility maintenance, and they knocked $20,000 off it right away.”
The Girdwood Board of Supervisors approved the fire department’s budget last month. A final draft of the GBOS budget is due later this month.