Money raised at last weekend’s Firefighters' Ball will help public safety provide CPR certifications to the community for the first time.

The ball turned a profit of $6,000 from ticket sales and other contributions -- five times as much as last year.

Senior Fire Captain Zac Schasteen is the president of the local chapter of the Alaska State Firefighters Association, which puts on the ball. He says they’ll use about half the money raised to train firefighters in giving CPR lessons.

"We ordered enough CPR equipment within the past week or so to teach 12 people CPR, and we did that for our members," Schasteen says. "So our members are going to go out [and] teach CPR."

Schasteen says right now, the Department of Public Safety is only has enough time and equipment to offer CPR training for their own volunteers. The new equipment will let the ASFA give classes for the community at large. It's something Schasteen says they've wanted to do for a long time.

Schasteen says they sold 230 tickets and had 190 people show up at this year's ball -- a big jump from last year’s attendance.

Fire Chief Abner Hoage says the ball was packed enough that their estimate for the buffet dinner turned out to be a little low.

"We had so many people there, we ran out of food," he laughs. "So it went really well."

Schasteen says the ball began 15 years ago as a way to thank the community for its support -- so it’s a big plus when it raises enough money to fund new programs.

"The community really came out this year and showed that extra bit of effort, as did our firefighters," he says. "We have a lot of really new volunteers and subsequently new members of ASFA, and they really put out. They did some amazing work."

Schasteen says the rest of what they raised will help fund adult education programs for some of their firefighters. And he says they’re going to order bike helmets to distribute to local kids.