ANIAK -- Fire chief Pete Brown has died from cancer.

Brown, who was 64, saved lives up and down the Kuskokwim River and trained two decades of village teenagers to do the same. His death Tuesday morning came three days after roughly 300 people filled the high school gym to celebrate his life and career.

Brown, who knew he didn’t have long to live, requested the party as a way to say goodbye to friends and family, organizers said. He is best known for starting the Dragon Slayers, a volunteer fire-rescue squad dominated by high school girls.

“In a place where almost 50 percent of the children do not graduate from high school, this Dragon Slayer Program instills self esteem and gives them tools to succeed in life as productive healthy adults — most of whom want to return to participate in their communities,” wrote Trooper Sgt. Mike Duxbury, who served in Aniak from 2002 to 2004.

The group was featured in People magazine and on “Oprah.” In a short phone interview Friday, Brown said that despite all the publicity, the Dragon Slayer program runs on a shoestring.

“We’re basically funded off anything the fire department has left over,” he said.

Donations to the program can be sent to: Aniak Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 307, Aniak, 99557.

ADVERTISEMENT