CURRENT SITUATION: Good progress has been made over the last few days on the fire. The northern half of the fire is in very good shape. Crews continue to conduct suppression activities along the perimeter and are making good progress at mopping up the edges. The southern part of the fire is in very heavy timber and brush. Building line is very slow and dangerous due to falling live and dead trees. We will begin to use heavy equipment today to speed up the process and further protect firefighters. Public and firefighter safety remains our highest priority. Our suppression efforts continue to be focused on keeping the fire from expanding into private land and developed areas.

Firefighters are providing structure protection in the Red Shirt Lake area south of the fire by reducing fuel around structures and setting up pumps and laying hose around structures. The northern three miles of lake shore have been treated. Operations personnel anticipate completing work in that area over the next few days.

COMMUNITY MEETING

A community meeting will be held in the Willow Elementary School on Sunday, August 25th at 3:00 p.m. The public will be updated on current fire information for the Deshka Landing Fire.

CLOSURE ORDERS: Nancy Lake State Recreation Area is closed to recreation and hunting. Hunters are being urged to stay away from the fire are. In order to protect firefighters, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed a portion of Game Management Unit 14A to hunting and the Department of Natural Resources has restricted all public access to State lands in the area. For more on the closure, go to: 
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6532/50528

The Red Shirt Lake area has been closed for recreational and public use. A TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) is in place over the fire area which includes the north half of Red Shirt Lake. Access for homeowners is only allowed through the southern portion of the lake.

EVACUATIONS: There are no evacuation orders in affect at this point. Residents living to the east and south of the fire are urged to be prepared for evacuation if conditions change.

For more information about the Deshka Landing Fire, go to:
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6532/

Categories: AK Fire Info