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The Funny River Chamber of Commerce will soon be getting an invaluable piece of equipment for contending with emergency situations in their relatively remote area -- an emergency power generator.

"We're very happy to be getting it," said Ray Price president of the chamber.

Price said the roughly 800 citizens -- a number which bumps up to around 1,300 in the summer -- realized the need for more emergency equipment after this past summer's Shanta Creek Fire, a 13,000-acre lightning-caused wildfire that started on June 29.

"That fire really showed us our short comings," Price said. "One road in and out, phone and power coming from across the river, we knew we needed a place to put people during a fire, flood, earthquake, or severe wind or ice storm."

Price said while the blaze was burning, fire information meetings were held at the Funny River Community Center -- which currently serves as the community's emergency shelter -- and it was clear the facility was deficient in providing for everyone.

"The building can hold around 125 people," Price said "We had 260 to 280 show up for the fire meetings."

The $35,000 generator for the shelter was purchased with interest income from the Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation Program.

Since 1998, Congress has appropriated more than $18 million to the Kenai Peninsula Borough for wildland mitigation, hazardous tree removal and other projects designed to minimize the devastation caused by the spruce bark beetle. The congressional appropriations do not restrict the use of interest on earnings from these grants, and approximately $510,618 in interest remains from the grants funds.

Price said the generator purchase is just the beginning of the work that needs to be done to transform the community center into a true emergency shelter.

"It was originally built in '96 or '97 by volunteers," he said. "We have a state grant of $100,000 that we got in 2006 that we're using for remodeling, mostly to increase the structural supports and bring it up to code."

Price said while this money will help beef-up the existing center, an entirely new facility is still needed, for which funding is currently being sought.

"Our $20 membership dues can only go so far," he said. "So we've also applied for a $1.2 million state capital improvement grant."

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.