An aggressive initial attack has knocked down a 40-acre lightning-caused wildfire burning 25 miles north of Fairbanks and crews are now working on keeping the fire contained.The The 2016 Washington Creek Fire was knocked down at approximately 40 acres with the help of air retardant tankers, water-scooping aircraft, a Fairbanks helitack squad, smokejumpers and two fire crews.
The Alaska Division of Forestry received a report of the fire north of Haystack Mountain at 7:15 p.m. The fire is approximately 6 miles east of the Elliott Highway and 6 miles west of the Steese Highway. State Forestry has received several calls from the public about the fire.
No structures are currently threatened by the fire. The smoke plume from the fire was visible from high spots around Fairbanks and from both the Elliott and Steese highways.
The Division of Forestry mounted an aggressive initial attack to keep the fire from growing. Initial attack resources included two air retardant tankers and two water-scooping aircraft to drop retardant and water on the fire; a load of seven smokejumpers from the BLM Alaska Fire Service; a Fairbanks Area helitack squad; the Type 1 Chena Interagency Hotshot Crew; and the Type 2 Northstar crew. The crews were shuttled into the fire via helicopter.
The smoke column from the 2016 Washington Creek Fire north of Fairbanks at approximately 9 p.m. Photo by Bruce Smith/Alaska Division of Forestry
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 