UPDATE 9:30 P.M.
Multiple water drops from water scooping planes and helicopters and a retardant drop by an air tanker have helped to temper fire behavior. Eight smokejumpers are engaged in suppression efforts and the White Mountain Crew is in the process of being shuttled in by helicopter to join them.
ORIGINAL POST
Firefighters from Fairbanks Area Forestry are currently responding to a flareup within the footprint of the Haystack Fire just north of Fairbanks.
A helicopter is on scene dropping water on the 2- to 3-acre fire and Helitack firefighters have been deployed to attack it on the ground. Two water-scooping aircraft based at Fort Wainwright have been ordered for water drops. Two more water scoopers and an air tanker that are currently working on a fire near Tok have also been requested to respond, as well as a load of eight smokejumpers and a hand crew.
A local resident in the Haystack Subdivision notified the Northern Forestry Dispatch Center at 6:15 p.m. that he could see smoke in the area of the Haystack Fire, which burned about 18 miles north of Fairbanks. A helicopter from the Fairbanks Forestry station was launched to investigate and found a 2- to 3-acre fire on the northwest corner of the Haystack Fire scar. The flareup was initially reported inside the containment line around the fire scar but it was later confirmed that it had crossed the containment line.
The Haystack Fire was started on June 14 by a lightning strike and burned 927 acres, threatening the Haystack Subdivision 2 miles to the south before it was brought under control. A Type 2 incident management team was called in to manage the fire and it was declared 100 percent contained on June 25. Crews and drones equipped with infrared imagery reported finding no hotspots on the fire and the IMT was demobilized on July 1. The fire has been in Monitor status since then.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 