Smoke filled the air and an unwelcome smell emanated from Skagway’s municipality-owned laundromat. First responders swiftly gained control of the fire, preserving what will soon become Skagway’s only public laundry facility.

 

The Skagway Fire Department responded to a small fire at Garden City RV Park’s laundromat on the evening of Aug. 10. Skagway’s fire chief, Emily Rauscher, says the fire was extinguished quickly.

“Engine Four responded, and they got a good knock on the fire. There was no extension, and they controlled it, and they moved on.”

Rauscher says that while she hasn’t yet done a full investigation, it appears the fire started in a dryer because of materials exposed to cooking oil. 

“Based off of pictures and communication with the responsible party of Garden City, the material inside the dryer were restaurant rags,” she says. “And so what is a fire hazard with restaurant rags is that, you know, they’re wiping up fryer grease or vegetable oil. And the situation with that, is the rags can spontaneously combust if you don’t get all of the oil out of the rags.” 

While one fire engine was responding to flames, the department received a separate request for medical assistance. 

 “During that fire, we also had a medevac occurring at the same time,” Rauscher says. “One of the employees on another shift came in, which is going to result in overtime, and they were handling the medevac call. So these, we call them stacked calls, or overlapping calls, in the fire world – we’ve been seeing a trend. Starting last year, more and more calls, happening simultaneously. And this year it’s been happening a lot.”

Rauscher says she’s worried she could have overlapping calls and there might not be off-duty personnel who are available to come in.

 “We’re making it work, but it’s definitely an area of concern that I’m not going to have crews in Skagway that can come in for overtime. And that could result in people calling 911, and them having to either wait for an ambulance, or wait for an engine as crews are freed up from prior calls.”

Rauscher hopes to address the issue with contract workers.

Jonathan Hillis, who manages the municipality’s two RV parks, says the laundromat’s electricity is being evaluated and some plumbing issues are being addressed. The borough hopes to reopen the laundromat by the end of the week.

Garden City closes for the season Oct. 31. It will house the last remaining public laundry machines in Skagway after the Family Fuel laundromat closes Sept. 30.

Update: The laundromat at Garden City RV park is now open. There are two dryers available.