Update at 4:30 p.m.: The #MooseCreekFire (#162) has burned an estimated 61 acres and the nearby fire has a number and name. The #ZyryankaFire (#166) has burned an estimated 33 acres.
Original information: BLM Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers responding to a lightning-caused fire today found two neighboring 10-acre burned areas in the White Mountains National Recreational Area. The Moose Creek Fire (#162) was discovered burning in a limited management option area Monday night. Typically, fires in limited area are left to burn in order to provide natural ecological benefits. However, because this is an early season fire burning a few miles from a public use cabin on BLM managed lands, fire managers decided to send eight smokejumpers Tuesday morning to put the fire out.
Once they arrived in the area, smokejumpers also found another recently burned area nearby. Neither fire showed much activity when smokejumpers got there Tuesday morning. Both lightning-caused fires were about 10 acres in size burning in tundra grass about 30 miles north of Fairbanks. Smokejumpers reported overnight rain significantly quelled the Moose Creek Fire and only a few smoky areas were visible. The smokejumpers are going to hike the 1 ½ miles to the other yet to be named fire to size it up. The plan is to ensure all hot spots are extinguished and the fires are considered out.
Because the area is marshy, outdoor recreationalist typically only use the trails and cabins in that area during the winter. The fire is a little more than 3 miles southeast of Eleazar’s Cabin and about 2.5 miles southeast of the Wickersham Creek Trail Shelter.
For more information, contact BLM AFS Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 