As with many fires throughout Alaska, neither the Slathouka Fire burning near Allakaket nor the Mission Fire burning near Tanana exhibited much activity or fire growth in the past few days due to the cooler, damper weather.
Management of the Slathouka Fire (#431) burning near Allakaket transitioned from a Type 3 incident management team to a BLM Alaska Fire Service management organization Monday morning. There are still 78 personnel assigned to the fire.
The fire has seen little growth since July 12 and is currently measured at approximately 9,927 acres. A low-pressure front bringing in cloud cover, cooler temps and higher humidity halted the progression of the fire. Work along the remaining allotments and structures is ongoing and one of the team’s main focus areas
The fire is located approximately 18 miles southwest of Alatna and Allakaket on the east side of the Koyukuk River and about 6 miles below the confluence of the Koyukuk and Kanuti (Old Man River) rivers.
Several of the allotments between the fire and the nearby communities were protected by firefighters working on a fire in 2019. Firefighters responding to the Slathtouka Fire reinforced these protection lines and added water pumps, hoses and sprinkler system to protect structures on allotments over the past day.
Six river boats are being utilized to support activities have played a key role in supporting operations by transporting crews, supplies, food, and equipment and, if needed, to transport patients during medical incidents. The Incident Management Team (IMT) is using local operators and their boats for boat support. These operators camped alongside crews if needed to transport patients during medical incidents outside of working hours. The person managing boat operations estimated these six river boats navigated a total of 1,700 river miles between July 6-15 without incident – a testament to the attention to boating safety.
The Mission Fire (#566) is located roughly 7 miles northwest of the town of Tanana. It is approximately 20 acres, with no fire growth from yesterday. Twenty smokejumpers were recently deployed to the fire in conjunction with six scoopers and three heavy air tankers. The air tankers were able to line the entire fire with retardant. The smokejumpers continue to mop up the fire until it is fully suppressed.
For questions about the Slathtouka or Mission Fire, contact the Alaska Joint Information Center at 907-356-5511 or akacc@firenet.gov.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 