More firefighters are slated to arrive in Manley Hot Springs today to start working on the pair of lightning-caused fires burning about a quarter mile apart south of the Tanana River. One of the five firefighting hand crews arriving in Alaska from the Lower 48 Thursday afternoon are reserved for the Dry Creek Fire (#195) and the Zitziana River Fire (#197). A handful of firefighters are already assessing the location of a cabin to the north of the fire near the Zitzana River and Native allotments along the Tanana River. They’ll use this information to formulate a plan to protect these sites using existing natural barriers such as sloughs to supplement firefighters’ hard work. The Zitziana River Fire is about two miles south of the cabin and about 3.5 mile miles west of the nearest Native allotment along the Tanana River. Neither fire is immediately threatening either site.
The fire area received little to no rain over the area overnight Wednesday. However, humidity levels were considerably higher Thursday morning which could keep fire activity subdued compared to what the pair exhibited since they started on Monday. More scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are predicted in the area today, which could bring more overall relief, but also a chance of erratic, gusty winds that could kick up fire activity and smoke again.
The Zitziana River Fire is estimated at a little more than 500 acres and the Deep Creek Fire was estimated at about 4,600 acres. The pair are burning in tundra, and a mixture of black spruce and hardwood trees. So far, the fires have burned to the southeast and toward the Zitziana River and a large area that was burned in 2018. The Deep Creek Fire is already bumping up against the Zitziana River that separates it from the 2018 Zitziana River Fire.
For more information, contact Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 