Firefighters completed a 300-foot saw line around the 257-acre Caribou Creek Fire (#255) burning east of Fairbanks and will begin gridding for hot spots today.
Some gridding was done Saturday on fingers extending out from the main perimeter, as well as along the saw line. The interior of the fire is also being monitored to ensure that no further hot spots are smoldering in unburned fuels but those hot spots should be well within the fire perimeter. The incident commander anticipates at least two more days of gridding before the fire is declared fully contained.
The Caribou Creek Fire was started by lightning on June 16 and is burning on a remote ridge approximately 7 ½ miles north of Chena Hot Springs Road near milepost 18 in Two Rivers.
The fire was 80 percent contained as of Sunday morning, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry. The plan is to downsize the fire from a Type 3 to a Type 4 incident on Monday.
Current fire activity is minimal, with most areas just seeing smoldering. Helicopters are being used to backhaul unneeded equipment and supplies from the fire so it can be sent to other, higher-priority fires. Overhead personnel that are timing out will not be replaced as part of the downsizing effort.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 