Alaska surpassed 2 million acres burned on Saturday, July 2, matching the earliest date for this milestone in the past 20 years.
While this doesn’t guarantee a record fire season this year, it does illustrate how dry conditions are across the state. It’s also an indicator of how busy firefighters have been so far this season with several months still left to go.
By Sunday morning, the state was reporting 2.1 million acres burned. Of the 387 wildfires reported this year, 173 are actively burning. There are currently 13 staffed fires being fought by nearly 850 people, with more fire crews scheduled to arrive in the coming days.
A Red Flag warning is in effect Sunday for the Middle Tanana Valley due to a forecast that calls for abundant lightning and extremely dry fuels. The Red Flag Warning may need to be extended through Monday night, according to the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.
The last time Alaska reached 2 million acres burned on July 2, 2015. More than 5.1 million acres burned across the state during that fire season, the second highest total for acres burned in the past 20 years.
For the entire 2019 fire season, Alaska saw about 2.6 million acres burned.
Fire more historical Alaska wildland fire statistics on the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 