Border denies Alaska town emergency medical care at night

Residents of a small southeast Alaska town no longer have nighttime access to emergency medical care because the border with Canada is now shut aftermidnight.

Canadian officials began closing the road linkingHyderwith nearby Stewart, British Columbia,on Wednesday,CoastAlaskaNewsreported.Hyderresidents depend on Stewart for health care and mainland road access.

The cost-cutting measure locks the border gate frommidnight to 8 a.m.

Hyder, which is about 125 kilometres northeast ofKetchikan, has fewer than 100 residents. Stewart is a few kilometres away fromHyderand has a population of about 500.

KetchikanRep. DanOrtizsaid it's an unsafe situation.

"It's the established emergency evacuation route. It's the only evacuation route if you have a tsunami or a flood. And then, of course, in the middle of the night if you have an emergency medical issue you don't have access to a hospital because the hospital they use is in Stewart," he said.

Ortizprotested the closure to the Canadian Border Services Agency.

"While I haven't had any direct evidence of a commitment of change, I do think there's room there for a solution that will meet the concerns of the folks in Stewart and inHyder," he said.

A remote-access system for unlocking the border gate could solve the problem, he said.

U.S. Senator LisaMurkowskialso contacted Canadian officials to argue against the closure, which comes at the start of the area's tourist season. Business owners say it will scare away bear-viewers, photographers and anglers who head out in the early morning hours.