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Smokejumpers respond to grass and brush fire on eastern Aleutian island

By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on May 13, 2022

BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumpers traveled more than 600 miles Thursday from Fairbanks to the eastern Aleutian Chain responding to the Danger Point Fire (#074) near Sand Point on Popof Island. The Sand Point Police Department reported the wildland fire burning in grass and brush two miles east of town. Eight firefighters parachuted near the fire, then worked in the steep coastal terrain, cutting a fireline for containment. They successfully stopped the forward progression of the wind-driven fire, keeping it from reaching the landfill, a concern of Sand Point residents. The evening report estimated the fire at 40 acres with 50% containment. The smokejumpers will continue extinguishing hot spots and securing the perimeter of the fire today.

Conditions continue to be very dry and windy in many areas of southcentral and southwest Alaska. Please be careful in all of your outdoor activities, it just takes one spark.

The Danger Point Fire (#074) burns on the coast of Popof Island, in the eastern Aleutian island chain, on Thursday, May 12, 2022, as seen from BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumper plane, J-92. Eight jumpers were deployed on the fire.
The Danger Point Fire (#074) burns on the coast of Popof Island, in the eastern Aleutian island chain, on Thursday, May 12, 2022, as seen from BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumper plane, J-92. Eight jumpers were deployed on the fire.

When responding to the #DangerPointFire on the Popof Island in the eastern Aleutian Chain May 13, 2022, eight BLM Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers experienced an epic fire jump to help protect Sand Point. What they didn’t know at the time, it is also considered the most southern fire jump in Alaska in the BLM smokejumpers 63-year history in the Last Frontier. As you can see from this video mounted to Alaska smokejumper Tyler Moylan’s helmet, the experience is something they’ll not likely forget. The interaction with the grateful community in a very remote part of Alaska 600 miles from the smokejumper base in Alaska made the experience even more special.