After successfully conducting a burn operation in defense against the Dry Creek Fire on Friday, firefighters have set their sights on protecting other sites that are within striking distance of the fire burning south of Manley Hot Springs. The fire continues to grow, with most activity concentrated in the northwest corner near the Tanana River. However, it’s moving slow to the southwest. It is still south of the Tanana River.
The Medford #10 Type 2 Initial Attack Crew demobilized on Monday and boarded a plane back to Oregon Tuesday. The North Star Crew – BLM Alaska Fire Service’s training crew – arrived Sunday to work on installing or fortifying protection measures set up on Native allotments south of the Tanana River to the east of the Zitziana River. The fire has not crossed this series of sloughs that make up the Zitziana River corridor. A cabin sitting to the north of the fire on the bank of the Zitziana River receives routine visits from firefighters to check the equipment staged there to protect the cabin from the encroaching fire. There are considerable natural barriers to help keep the fire at bay.
The BLM AFS Chena Hotshots are helping mop up the two-mile long stretch of burn out that was ignited to protect a Native allotment and another piece of property and helping with overall fire strategy. Meanwhile, smokejumpers are doing a site assessment on a cluster of cabins on the Tanana River farther to the southeast to come up with a structure protection plan.
The fire area experienced sunny weather with sporadic, gusty winds Tuesday. The west winds will continue into today with warmer, drier weather expected by Thursday. This will lead to an increase of fire activity when the fire finds a stand of black spruce to quickly burn through.
| Start date: June 14 | Acres: 29,818 | Personnel assigned: 63 | Crews: 2 | Cause: Lightning |
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 