Northeasterly winds pushed Marten Creek Fire almost two miles closer to Venetie as it almost doubled in size. The prolonged hot, dry spell has dried out the vegetation to the point that firefighters witnessed it burn not only the normally receptive spruce trees and tundra grass, but hardwoods which typically have a higher moisture content.
Month: August 2021
Firefighters mopping up 4-acre Redmond Creek fire 11 miles east of Harding Lake
The water bombers were scooping water from nearby Harding Lake, making for quick turnaround times. The four scoopers made a total 48 water drops on the fire totaling 33,600 gallons of water in a matter of two hours.
Work continues as cloud cover keeps pair of Yukon Flats fires subdued
Work progresses on a pair of fires burning in the Yukon Flats as cloud cover and a sprinkle of rain kept fire behavior subdued Sunday. Update on the Marten Creek and Discovery Creek fires for Aug. 2, 2021.
Firefighters working on Marten Creek Fire extinguish new human-caused fire near Venetie
Shortly after taking off from Venetie just before 3 p.m. Saturday, firefighters spotted what initially seemed like smoke from a campfire. The initial six firefighters were able to contain the Tinjikvun Fire (#396) by 4:30 p.m. Afterwards, 10 BLM Alaska Fire Service North Star firefighters were pulled from constructing an indirect fire break around Venetie to help extinguish any remaining hot spots.
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 