Ferry service restored after Anderson Island outage traps commuters

Pierce County Ferry Service from Steilacoom has finally resumed after a three-day outage trapped commuters. Officials had to source parts from Canada to complete the repair. FOX 13's Dan Griffin is on Anderson Island with the big sigh of relief from officials and the people who call it home. With no local grocery store or gas station here, getting across the water is vital for survival. That's why seeing the vessel return is so life-changing. People certainly, certainly are emotional when it happens. The Steilacoom II is running again to Anderson and Ketron Islands. Local Jeremy Campbell knows it's a critical lifeline. The ferries are our road, and all of our essential supplies, our mail, our medicines, everything comes over on the ferry. Across South Puget Sound, running your own boat might just be the only option. Campbell and Captain Corey Felden stepped in to help stranded neighbors with theirs. A lot of people out here, they move to an island, they don't have a boat, they kind of feel when this happens they feel stranded they found Richard Anderson no relation to the island's name mid-crossing i said you know what let's take the kayaks let's strap my hundred pound e-bike on my kayak and we the plan was to come over here and it was squirrely as heck saturday's breakdown came as all four propulsion signal boards failed simultaneously including backups. With no spares in the U.S., crews rush-ordered parts from British Columbia. Even worse, the second ferry was sidelined for a mandatory Coast Guard inspection. As riders waited, worried and feeling uninformed, Campbell says state lawmakers spoke up. Representative Leavitt has done an amazing job advocating for us. Parts arrived Tuesday after some tests. Runs resumed. Now Pierce County wants to prevent another total shutdown. We are going to be working to build trust with the community to make sure that when we have future mechanical failures, that they can rely on us for timely information. For residents on Puget Sound's southernmost island, that reliability is everything. It's not the breakdown that people are upset about. It's just the communications and the lack of mutual aid agreements being in place. But they're working on that. They've got several things in the works. Now, as you can imagine, there's certainly a demand. People wanting to get on or off Anderson Island. Crews have been managing the flow, but they are asking people who can to delay their trips, leaving space for those with critical needs. Reporting on Anderson Island, Dan Griffin, Fox 13 News. Pierce County officials say they're also currently looking into whether ticket agents can accept expired ferry tickets. They say they will provide updates when they have more information.