Tanana Area Fire Facts At A Glance
TOTAL ACRES: 496,131
Spicer Creek Fire (4 mi. N Tanana) ~ 183,415 acres;
Harper Bend Fire (6 mi. SE Tanana) ~43,378 acres
Moose Point Fire (~55 mi. W Tanana) ~26,612 acres
Kokrine Fire (~50 mi. W Tanana) ~4,811 acres;
Bering Creek Fire (37 mi. SW Tanana) ~237,906 acres
NOTE: Hay Slough Fire information available by calling Alaska fire information at (907) 356-5511.
Date Started: 06/19/2015
Cause: Lightning
Percent Contained or Completed: 92%
Personnel: 239, including various support/logistics personnel; Four Type 1 (Hotshot) and three Type 2 crews and 1 Type 3 Tanana crew.
Aircraft: One Type 2 helicopter and one Type 3 helicopter
Equipment: 7 boats, 1 watertender, 1 excavator, 1 dozer, a SUSV track vehicle, 2 dump trucks, ATV’s and other misc. equipment.
Cooperating Agencies: Alaska Fire Service, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Division of Forestry, Tanana Tribal Council, Tanana Chiefs’ Conference (TCC), Doyon, Tanana Volunteer Fire Department, City of Tanana, Tanana School District, Tozitna Limited
Management responsibility for the Spicer Creek, Harper Bend, Moose Point, Kokrine, and Bering Creek fires is assigned to Jim Grant’s Eastern Area Incident Management Team (IMT). The Spicer Creek Fire, which threatens the village of Tanana, Alaska, is the primary focus. The Baker fire is managed by Mike
Bradley’s Type 4 team. The Hay Slough Fire continues to be jointly managed by Grant’s and Bradley’s teams.
Well-over 100 miles of the Yukon and Tanana rivers are assigned to Eastern Area IMT. On the Yukon River, responsibility for fire response and structure protection stretches over 115 miles from the mouth of the Nowitna River near Moose Point upstream to Stevens Creek. On the Tanana River, responsibility
extends from the Yukon upstream to the mouth of the Cosna River; a distance of over 35 miles.
Yesterday, on the Spicer Creek fire west of Bear Creek, two hot shot crews were inserted to mop up hot spots that spread the length of one and a half miles on the Bear Creek edge from the mouth of the creek. They were able to access by boat from the Yukon River then traveled ¼ mile up Bear Creek.
Crews on the Bear Creek to Site Road containment line mopped up a couple of hot spots that showed up on the infrared camera then continued pulling hose lines and water pumps to return them to camp in Tanana. At the supply area in the Tanana fire camp, they rolled more than 14 miles of hose. There were over 80 miles of fire hose and 188 water pumps deployed on the Tanana Area Fires.
In the Site Road and Mission area crews continued patrols and mopped up on the interior hot spots detected by infrared. They continued repair on the hand lines and hauled brush piles. They dismantled water pumps and hose lays and sprinkler systems and returned the equipment and supplies back to fire
camp in Tanana.
The river group pulled several more water pumps, hoses and sprinkler systems from some of the structures along the Yukon and Tanana Rivers. They checked remaining water pumps and sprinkler systems to ensure they were operating in the event they are needed for structure protection.
Today, two hot shot crews will return to the west side of Bear Creek to continue mopping up problem hot spots near the mouth of the creek. Fire crews will be accessing the west side of the creek by boat, entering from the Yukon River. With the Bear Creek to Site Road containment line completed and mopped up, crews will dismantle, clean up and rehabilitate spike camp.
Patrol and repair of hand lines will continue in the Site Road/Mission area. Brush piles will continue to be hauled off. More water pumps and hoses will be dismantled and returned to camp in Tanana. The hot spots that showed up on the infrared camera along Site Road will continue to be mopped up, and the
road patrolled for additional hot spots.
The Yukon River group will go to Bible camp and clean up and gather the remaining equipment and supplies to return to supply in fire camp in Tanana. The group going up the river will continue pulling excess pumps and hoses and sprinkler systems to return to camp.
Expect mostly cloudy today with isolated showers. Maximum temperature will be around 74 degrees with a minimum humidity of 38%. Light winds becoming west around 5 mph are expected in the afternoon with gusty and erratic winds expected near thunderstorms. Tonight’s forecast is mostly cloudy with isolated showers and thunderstorms in the evening and isolated showers overnight. Expect the minimum temperature to be around 54 degrees and maximum humidity 90%. West winds are forecasted to be around 5 mph, becoming light after midnight. Gusty and erratic winds are expected near thunderstorms. Thursday, expect mostly cloudy with scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. Maximum temperature will be around 74 degrees with minimum humidity of 38%. Light winds will become west at 6-10 mph in the afternoon. Gusty and erratic winds are expected near thunderstorms.
Special Announcements: The next public meeting will be held Thursday, July 30th at 7:00 pm at the Tanana Community Hall to provide fire information. This will be the last public meeting provided by the Eastern Area Incident Management Team. The new Type 3 fire organization will assume management responsibility for the Tanana Area Fires at 6:00 am, Friday, July 31st.
There are no active smoke advisories in Alaska today. Air quality indices and alerts can be found on the Alaska DEC Division of Air Quality website at:
http://dec.alaska.gov/Applications/Air/airtoolsweb/Advisories/Index. Weather forecast can be found at: http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/obs.php
The public is advised to avoid traveling Site Road because of the danger of falling trees and traffic associated with rehabilitation.
For more info: Please contact Information Officers, Bill Paxton or Kristen Miller, Tanana school ICP, at 907-987-9835 or TananaAreaFires2015@gmail.com. Inciweb (http://inciweb.nwcg.gov) also provides fire information. From the Inciweb homepage, select “Tanana Area Fires” fires from the drop down list at the top right of the page. To obtain fire information regarding the Hay Slough, Baker and other fires in Alaska, contact the BLM Alaska Fire Service at 907-356-5511 or
blm_ak_afs_public_affairs@blm.gov or https://akfireinfo.com/.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 