The Chena River State Recreation Site located in Fairbanks has been closed to the public since 2020. The Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection was tasked in early August with removing fuels that had accumulated by thinning and trimming trees, removal of overgrown bushes, and overseeing trash removal from the site.
Firefighter crews were available to assist on this fuels reduction project as the recent weather change brought cool temperatures and persistent rainfall across Alaska. Recent rainfall dramatically reduced fire behavior on active wildland fires where more than 3,000,000 acres burned this year.
Under the direction of Incident Commander Josh Turnbow, firefighters from the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection Fairbanks Area Forestry, White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) crew, North Star Fire Crew (an Alaska Fire Service Type 2 crew), Tanana Chiefs Conference Type 2 IA crew, and the Alaska Division of Forestry Emergency Firefighter (EFF) squad worked on this project. Personnel from the Fairbanks Rescue Mission cleaned up a large amount of trash throughout the site.
In the past two weeks crews have made significant progress at the State Recreational Site to greatly increase visibility at the boat launch, roadways, pavilion, entrance, and campground loops. IC Turnbow gave high praise to the firefighters and Fairbanks Rescue Mission personnel who came together and accomplished so much in a quick timeframe.
Categories: AK Fire Info
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 