Fairbanks Area Forestry responded to a wildfire in Nenana on Tuesday after an Alaska Railroad maintenance vehicle caught fire on the railroad tracks and the fire spread to the surrounding woods.
A helicopter and two water-scooping aircraft were called in to make water drops on the Nenana Rail Fire while a small group of firefighters from the Fairbanks Area Forestry and the Nenana Volunteer Fire Department on the ground worked to contain it at 2 acres.
The fire was reported at 2:23 p.m. along the railroad tracks about three-quarters of a mile west of the Parks Highway between Miles 302 and 303.
The fire didn’t burn deep and firefighters were able to quickly contain it with the help of water drops from aircraft. The fire was turned over to the Nenana Volunteer Fire Department at around 6 p.m. Firefighters worked on the fire until about 9 p.m. setting up hose lays and extinguishing hotspots before putting it into Monitor status.
Fairbanks Area Forestry will check the fire for any hotspots today before pulling the hose lays that were set up.
The railroad vehicle was completely destroyed.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 