Our Story

The organization is trained, has equipment, and is ready to serve.  

In 2021 an arsonist struck terror in the community of Two Rivers by igniting over 11 structural fires. The area is a non-fire service area, meaning that there is no structural fire protection available for residents. The greater Two Rivers area, including Pleasant Valley, is a tight knit community that came together to support each other and rebuild. Out of this tragedy came an effort to assemble a volunteer fire department.  

In late fall of 2021, an organization was formed (Pleasant Valley / Two Rivers Fire Association), bylaws were adopted and the organization filed for 501(c)3 status. Members of the organization crafted the operating orders for the Two Rivers VFD. Through the graciousness of the Nenana VFD, eleven members received their Emergency Trauma Technician certification and four of those members went on to achieve EMT-2 level certification. 

Area fire departments donated gear, apparatus, and guidance to the core group of volunteers. Today, the organization has the use of a tender, ambulance, medical supplies, radios, and turnout gear. While it isn't a comprehensive list of all equipment needed for a VFD, it is enough to provide rapid response to our community.

In January of 2022, five short months from the last arson fire, the Two Rivers VFD began the process to apply to the State of Alaska for a FDID which requires concurrence from the Fairbanks North Star Borough. This process required a need to establish that adjacent fire service areas would not consider an annex to Two Rivers. The next step considered by the FNSB was create an FSA with a contract model for paying for services. The citizens of Two Rivers initially voted for an FSA; however the local fire commissioners voted to have a prevention only model. This, coupled with concerns about local tax rate increases, led to a vote to abolish using the FSA model to fund fire services. The FNSB ultimately endorsed a resolution to allow the community of Pleasant Valley / Two Rivers to administer its own fire service under a 100% volunteer model not contracted by the FNSB.