Update 3:30pm: The All Elks Road fire has been called contained and Gannett Glacier Fire Crew is breaking down and backhauling hose lays and other gear.
The All Elks Road Fire (#116) near Sutton was limited to approximately five acres yesterday afternoon with mop up continuing today. Local responding fire departments coordinated the initial attack involving DOF’s Palmer based Air Attack aerial firefighting supervisor, the Mat-Su Initial Attack helicopter with long line and bucket for water drops, and DOF engine crews.
Local responding fire departments included Sutton, Palmer and Central Fire along with DOF engines, Mat-Su Helitack module and a DOF Air Attack aerial supervisor.
The fire started on private land yesterday afternoon near Sutton and numerous resources were involved in limiting the fire spread during a Red Flag fire weather warning day. Conditions in the dry grass and brush fuel categories all across Alaska have become extreme with the weeks of sunshine and warm weather. Bryan Quimby of Gannett Glacier Fire Crew sent these images from the fire’s edge showing that the forests are also drying out. Bryan, now the fire’s Incident Commander, filed this report today: “Yesterday Incident Commander Brian Carver worked with Mat-Su Borough based cooperating fire departments in a Unified Command. This teamwork is essential to catching small fires. We could not catch these fires small without our local cooperators. Today Gannett Glacier is mopping up the heavy large trees and are felling hazard trees. We intend to have the fire controlled by the end of shift and are monitoring the Red Flag conditions.
Today is another Red Flag day across many geographic regions and Alaskans need to be aware that the winter snowmelt and spring conditions are over. Wildfire season is here and many #BurnPermitSuspensions are in place.
Red Flag Warnings continue for today as critical fire weather conditions remain over portions of Southcentral. Sustained winds, gusts and low RH values are expected for the Anchorage area, Palmer and the Knik River Vally. Broad areas of Alaska have not received a wetting rain in some time leaving fuels are very susceptible to ignition and rapid spread. The possibility of multiple fires this weekend will quickly utilize all available resources. Burn Permit Suspensions have be issued for Fair-
banks, Delta, Copper River Basin, Mat-Su, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island and a Burn Ban for the Anchorage Municipality.
Learn about the Burn Permit Program here https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry (DOF), Fire Weather
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 