I’d like to give a shout out to the Alaska Power and Telephone Crew who were on the job day and night to keep the lights on through last weekend’s wind storm. For most in the town site or indirectly affected outage areas the power is usually restored with backup generation in 15-20 minutes and the show you are watching or the dinner you are making can continue. Not so much for the power crew. They head out into the darkness, wind, or whatever weather is happening, packing their chainsaws to cut the trees that fell on the power lines and the gear needed to make repairs to restore power. They don’t usually get back to their TV shows, dinners or even sleep for at least another 3 to 6 hours. Last weekend during the storm, they were out fixing power lines from Friday night to Sunday more hours than they were at home. Although their radio tone-outs are not immediate life and death situations, they are a call for help no matter what time of day or night they go off. It requires donning warm clothing, gathering appropriate gear and tools for the situation they are facing and correcting whatever malfunction they encounter. The behind-the-scenes work that takes place goes unnoticed and often unappreciated. So this is to shout out a really BIG Thank You to Russ, Darren, Sonny, and Jordan for their hard work and dedication to keeping the power on. You are appreciated!
Kathrine Klinger