Update on Feb. 21, 2020:
BLM Alaska Fire Service personnel completed burning woody debris piles in the Donnelly Training Area West (DTAW) between Feb. 9-12. They were able to burn the remaining 54 large, machine-built piles on the far west section of the 21-mile fuel break created during a multi-year hazardous fuels reduction project on military lands in the DTAW. The approximately 1,080 hand piles were created by U.S. Army Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) Program personnel to keep fire intensity down in a white spruce stand in case a wildfire reaches just south of the main fuel break, known as the DTAW Shearblade Fuel Treatment. This increases the chances of keeping unplanned wildfires from spreading off of Army training lands. However, due to the abundance of snow, they were only able to burn a small amount of the smaller hand piles created in 2019 in a smaller shaded fuel treatment while thinning a spruce stand adjacent to the larger fuel break. In the upcoming weeks, BLM AFS personnel will return to the check on the burned piles to ensure they’re out.
The DTAW Shearblade Fuel Treatment, which connects the Delta River to Delta Creek, is the finished product following removal of continuous spruce by shearing trees close to the ground during the winter when the ground is frozen. This process reduces the wildfire hazard while leaving the underlying soil intact. This fuel treatment was instrumental in managing the Oregon Lakes Fire last summer by helping firefighters keep the fire from moving north off Army training lands. The salvageable trees are made available for commercial timber sale.
Click on photo block to scroll through photos.
A large, machine-built pile of fire-killed spruce from the 2014 100 Mile Creek Fire burns on the DTAW near Delta Creek on Feb. 9. Photo by Chris Friar, BLM AFS 
Heavy snow accumulation this winter hampered efficient burning of debris piles in a relatively small shaded fuel treatment that is adjacent to the much larger shearblade fuel treatment. These piles will be burned in a future winter when conditions are more favorable. Photo by Chris Friar, BLM AFS 
Several large, machine-built piles of fire-killed spruce burning on the DTAW near Delta Creek on Feb. 9. Photo by Rob Snyder, BLM AFS 
BLM AFS personnel will go back and check these piles to ensure they out. This smoldering burn pile was estimated 90 percent consumed on Feb. 10, one day after ignition. Photo by Chris Friar, BLM AFS 
The DTAW Shearblade Fuel Treatment, which connects the Delta River with the Delta Creek, is the finished product following removal of a continuous black spruce stand by shearing trees close to the ground. This process reduces the wildfire hazard while leaving the underlying soil intact. This treatment will improve the chances of keeping unplanned wildfires from spreading north off Army training lands and was instrumental in managing the Oregon Lakes fire last summer by helping firefighters keep the fire from moving north of Army training lands. The salvageable trees were made available for commercial timber sale. What’s left over made up the woody debris piles that were later burned in the spring
Original post on Feb. 6, 2020:
The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (BLM AFS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK), will burn woody debris piles created during a multi-year hazardous fuels reduction project on military training lands southwest of Delta Junction. Burning operations will start as early as Saturday, Feb. 8 and may continue, as conditions allow, until March 29.
The approximately 150 piles are primarily composed of cut spruce trees. Fifty of these piles are left from a fuel break constructed in the Donnelly Training Area West (DTAW) by shearing trees close to the ground, which reduces the wildfire hazard while leaving the underlying soil intact. Also targeted for burning are about 100 piles created by thinning a stand of white spruce adjacent to this shear blade line. A total of about 1,150 woody debris piles were created by USARAK range personnel when constructing a 21-mile fuel break in the DTAW stretching from the Delta River to Delta Creek. This firebreak was integral in managing the Oregon Lakes Fire last summer by helping firefighters keep the fire from moving north of Army training lands.
In accordance with an open burn approval issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), the piles will be ignited when weather conditions will minimize the impact of smoke on populated areas. Smoke may be visible west of Delta Junction from the Richardson Highway. The BLM AFS and USARAK work in conjunction with ADEC and the National Weather Service to forecast and monitor smoke conditions to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal regulations governing air quality.
For more information about prescribed fire on the Donnelly Training Area and other U.S. Army Garrison Fort Wainwright lands, contact the BLM AFS Dispatch Center in Fairbanks at (907) 356-5555 or BLM AFS Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)388-2159 or eipsen@blm.gov.
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Categories: BLM Alaska Fire Service, Prescribed Fire
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 