In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.
January 22, 1914: There was an accident at the public school last night. The steam heat is on the hummer today and the school is out of business. Apparently there was a fire started in the furnace and after the boiler was hot, the cold water turned on and the whole front section burst. This is a very unfortunate occurrence to happen at this time of the year when the heat is an absolute necessity.
Oscar Carlson and Ole Johnson are building two moveable stations 5x5x6 feet to hold the extinguishers belonging to the fire department to provide against the extinguishers freezing, should there be a frost this winter. The extinguishers will be moved from the saloon where they are now stationed.
January 20, 1939: A check for $116 was mailed to Harry G. Watson, president of the Alaska Tuberculosis Association, by Arnold Krone, secretary of the Wrangell Health Council, last Monday, an additional sum of four dollars having been received since the last report. Those who can make
contributions for anti-tuberculosis work are urged to do so at once and those who cannot afford to keep their seals are asked to help the committee by returning the seals sent them. A complete list is kept of every person who received seals and the number sent them. In this way the association is able to account for every seal.
January 24, 1964: The 11th annual Southeast District Convention of the American Legion, Department of Alaska, is convening today in Wrangell. Hernando Villarma, of Wrangell Post and Southeast District Commander, will be presiding over the meetings. There are approximately 40
delegates in town for the weekend. “I hope our townspeople show the visiting Legionnaires a bit of old Wrangell
hospitality,” remarked Norman Nauska, local Post Commander.
January 19, 1989: Wrangellite Tim Buness has been hired as the city's new fire chief. Buness, 32, has been a volunteer fireman and active in search and rescue since he was 18. But his father, Gordon Buness, who retired as of Dec. 31, worked as the city's fire chief for 33 years, giving his son a strong background in the job. “We basically grew up at the fire hall,” Tim Buness said. Tim Buness, who has been a
lieutenant on the volunteer force for several years, said he plans no drastic changes in the department. “We're going to carry on a lot in the same way as it was,” he said. Immediate plans call for working on construction of a new substation at Shoemaker Bay to help improve fire protection services for residents out Zimovia Highway, he said. Tim Buness also was planning to meet with officials in Juneau this week to gain training for someone in Wrangell as a certified Firefighter I instructor. A certified instructor could offer Wrangell firefighters the more valuable certificates after completion of their 40-hour training course, he said.
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