An Unmanned Aerial System equipped with infrared imagery was flown over the Brock Road Fire on Tuesday to search for hot spots on the 21-acre fire southeast of Fairbanks near North Pole.

The drone, operated by a pilot from the BLM Alaska Fire service, identified considerable heat within the perimeter of the containment line that encircles the fire but no hot spots were detected outside the control line, allowing firefighters to turn their focus on mopping up the interior of the fire where the fire remains active with smoldering and isolated tree torching.

Nearly 60 firefighters are tending to the Brock Road Fire, which erupted Sunday, grew rapidly and drew a quick and aggressive initial attack by Fairbanks Area Forestry. Three local crews – the White Mountain Crew, the UAF Nanooks Crew and the Fairbanks #1 Crew – are currently working on the fire, which was 90 percent contained as of Wednesday morning.

The fire is ted in a forested area north of the intersection of Brock and Repp roads about 8 ½ miles southeast of Fairbanks.

Temperatures in the mid 70s are expected over the fire today and the temperature is forecast to climb into the low 80s on Thursday and Friday with gusty winds predicted on Friday.

Firefighters are currently mopping up 50 to 100 feet inside the perimeter of the fire, using a hose line that was placed around the fire to extinguish any hot spots that are found. A dozer line has also been constructed around the fire’s edge to lessen the chances of any flare-ups crossing the control line..

The fire was human caused and is under investigation by the Alaska Division of Forestry.

Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info