Home › AK Fire Info › Equipment and crews have completed dozer line to the west of the Hayes Creek communities, Minto Lakes Fire.

Equipment and crews have completed dozer line to the west of the Hayes Creek communities, Minto Lakes Fire.

By Mintolakes2022 on July 7, 2022

We will be holding a community meeting in Haystack (Haystack Laundry and Showers) tonight at 7pm. We will have presentations from fire operations, fire behavior and weather.

We have had Red Flag Warnings since the beginning of the week – we will again remain under one today in effect through midnight for abundant lightning and extremely dry fuels. Crews and equipment continue to be available if new fires start.

With yesterday’s clearer sky we saw increased activity primarily concentrated on the northern flank as well as in unburned pockets near the center of the fire. The rest of the fire saw minimal growth with activity confined to creeping and smoldering. The six miles of dozer line, from the Hastings fire of 2011 continues to be re-enforced. This is a protection measure for the communities of Hayes Creek and Himilaya. Along the southern fire edge (north of the Chatanika River) crews continue installing pumps and removing large diameter fuels from the area. The structure protection group to the southeast of the fire have assessed structures and developed plans for protection. Crews continue to locate and mop up heat around the Native allotments on the southwestern flank to limit any additional growth in those areas.

Please continue to limit unnecessary travel to areas around the fire perimeter where fire personnel are working. This includes the Murphy Dome area down to the MDR Boat Ramp and the Chatanika River. Equipment and fire fighters are working around the Hayes and Himalaya Subdivisions, please use caution in these areas. The fire area remains under a fuels and fire behavior advisory though July 8, 2022, Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory.

Evacuations

For the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Operations evacuation map, scan the QR code or go to https://tinyurl.com/MintoLakes. Follow the FNSB Government Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FNSBGov) for updates and notifications. Receive FNSB Emergency Alerts via text message by texting: FNSBWildFire2022 to 67283.

Weather

A high pressure system continues to dominate the weather pattern over the fire area. The pressure system combined with smoke continues to moderate fire behavior. Afternoon thunderstorm activity today is projected to bring terrain driven outflow winds into the area which can lead to unpredictability in fire behavior. Temperatures are expected to be warm today in the mid-70’s to lower 80’s and relative humidity will be in the upper 30’s to low 40’s.

Closures

Emergency Burn Closure are in effect please visit https://tinyurl.com/BurnClosure for more information.

The Alaska Bureau of Land Management has issued a Fire Closure Order for the White Mountain National Recreation Area. The following trails are closed: Wickersham Creek Trail, Trail Creek Trail (between the junction with Wickersham Creek Trail and the junction with Moose Creek Trail), Moose Creek Trail, and Summit Trail. The following BLM public use cabins and shelters are closed: Lee’s Cabin, Eleazar’s Cabin, Moose Creek Cabin, Summit Trail Shelter, Wickersham Creek Trail Shelter. For more information, visit https://akfireinfo.com/ or call the Fairbanks District Office at 907-474-2200. Alaska State Parks has closed the Whitefish Lake Campground and boat ramp.