They are among 17 U.S. federal firefighting crews participating in an international effort to support fire suppression

Update on June 10, 2023: The crew is heading to Cecil Fire (GWF-018) north of Grand Prairie. According to an update release from the Peace River Forest in Alberta today, this fire is considered out of control at almost 120,000 acres. 👉 https://ow.ly/6U3150OL50Z

With the low fire activity across the state and additional Alaska crews becoming available every day, the BLM Alaska Fire Service Midnight Sun Interagency Hotshot Crew has gone to Canada in support of the effort on wildfires.

The crew is part of an international effort to help Canada as it grapples with an unprecedented fire season in several providences. As of Tuesday, there were a total of 370 U.S. firefighting personnel assigned to Canada, including 17 crews and 30 firefighting individuals filling other roles, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). This doesn’t include the Midnight Sun Hotshots, who are among five additional American crews and Great Basin smokejumpers making their way to Canada this week to replace five other crews coming home. The crew crossed the border into Canada this morning.

The first half of the BLM AFS crew left Fairbanks during the dusky midnight hour Sunday with the rest of the crew following around 5 a.m. They spent Sunday and Monday at NIFC in Boise prepping gear and their vehicles for the more than 1,000-mile drive to Edmonton, Alberta for their in-briefing for their 14-day assignment.

Because most of Alaska’s fires occur off the road system, very few Alaska crews have their own assigned vehicles to use in state. Instead, they rely mostly on aircraft to get to and from fires. But when BLM AFS’s two hotshot crews head to the Lower 48 after the Alaska fire season slows down, they use their official crew vehicles, sometimes referred to as crew “buggies,” parked at NIFC in Boise.

While Alaska’s fire season has remained relatively slower than normal, Canada is experiencing a record-breaking fire season. As of Tuesday, 2,305 wildfires have burned more than 9.5 million acres across Canada, forcing thousands of people from their homes and pushing smoke into the U.S. as far south as the Carolinas.

In contrast, 89 fires have burned a total of 412 acres in Alaska which is below normal due to the late snow melt and cooler spring weather. Alaska has only one staffed fire in Alaska. Twelve BLM AFS smokejumpers are mopping up a 10-acre fire burning about 4 miles west of Stevens Village and plan to demobilize today.

Alaska is at the lowest preparedness level while Canada has been at highest preparedness level of 5 since May 11. Preparedness levels are dictated by fuel and weather conditions, fire activity and fire suppression resources availability. The U.S. preparedness level increased to 2 on a scale of 1-5 on May 8, partially due to the request for assistance from Canada.

Because of the above-normal fire activity, Canada requested U.S. wildland fire suppression resources the second week of May. With Alaska, and most of the other areas of the country experiencing and expecting normal or even low fire activity, the U.S. was able to oblige while still ensuring there are still adequate firefighting resources if fire activity increases before crews complete their assignments in Canada.

NIFC’s National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) in Boise maintains an arrangement with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) for the two countries to request and receive wildland firefighting assistance. Shared resources can include firefighting personnel, aviation assets and heavy equipment. NIFC has similar agreements with New Zealand, Australia and Mexico. Canada has assisted the U.S. with hand crews, engines and incident management personnel in four of the last six fire years (2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021).

At the time the first requests came from Canada, the two BLM AFS hotshot crews still needed to complete their two-weeks of critical training before they were available for fire assignments. Instead, the coordination center in Boise identified resources available in the Lower 48 to fill those requests.

At the same time, the State of Alaska sent the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection (DOF) Pioneer Peak Hotshots and an air tanker based in Palmer through the Northwest Compact, an agreement between several Canadian providences, Alaska and several northwestern U.S. states. Other states in this compact sent additional resources. This agreement also made it easier for Canadian resources to help on Forestry-managed fires last year.

The Pioneer Peak Hotshots recently returned from their Canadian assignment and, after a few days off, will be available for fire response in Alaska. One of the two air tankers, which are normally based in Canada before they move to Alaska for the fire season, was released to travel to Alaska.

With the BLM AFS North Star Crew finishing up its critical training and ready for an assignment Monday and more BLM contract crews becoming available this week, BLM AFS has six other crews available for fires. DOF has additional hand crews, helitack and engine crews available if needed.

Each day BLM AFS has more than 30 smokejumpers available for quick, initial fire response in all parts of Alaska if conditions get hotter and drier and there’s increase in fire activity.

For the most current information concerning the wildfires burning in Canada, please visit the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System website at https://ciffc.net/.

For photos of the Midnight Sun Hotshots mobilization, go to BLM AFS Flickr album https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAGGWL

For more information, contact BLM AFS Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov.

Categories: BLM Alaska Fire Service

Tags: 2023 Canada Wildfire Season, Midnight Sun Hotshots