The BLM Alaska Fire Service is monitoring several fires in Western Alaska, including two on the Noatak River and one on the Seward Peninsula. Galena Zone personnel will conduct routine flyovers of these large tundra fires.
The Tututalak Fire (#135), about 32 miles northeast of Noatak Village and 5 miles east of the Kelly and Noatak River confluence, is nearly 7,000 acres.
The Urgoon Fire (#131), 22 miles northeast of Noatak Village and 8 miles south of the same confluence, is about 4,200 acres.
According to the National Park Service, these two fires will be actively managed if they threaten people, property, or Alaska Native allotments, with public and firefighter safety as the highest priority. More information is available on akfireinfo.com.
Six smokejumpers worked on the Goldbug Fire (#130) for two days to keep it north of the Kugruk River. After it stalled due to natural barriers, they demobilized Sunday and were soon sent to the Alagnak River (#144) fire in Katmai National Park.
A Galena Zone firefighter reported the Goldbug Fire was active on the southwest corner Monday evening, confined by a stream, and estimated at 6,500 acres. It is burning in an area designated for limited management, meaning that unless the fire threatens property or people, it will be allowed to play its natural ecological role. If the fire threatens a nearby site of value, land and fire managers plan to mobilize firefighters to protect the site without stopping the wildfire’s spread as long as there are enough resources. This strategy considers firefighter safety, values at risk, and impacts on the surrounding area.
-BLM-
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, P.O. Box 35005 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, Ak 99703
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The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $18.1 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, Alaska NPS, BLM Alaska Fire Service
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 