On Sunday evening, July 22 Tok Area DOF responded to a smoke report near the 60 Mile Butte area, northwest of Tanacross and Tok. A helicopter reconnaissance flight located a light, wispy smoke column from a roughly .5 acre fire near Mansfield Lake and 2.5 miles from Mansfield Village plotting in Full Protection. Fire Bosses, Air Attack, two loads of helitack, and one load of smokejumpers responded.
The fire was determined to be caused from a 2 week old lightning strike, which had been laying dormant until the recent fuel and weather conditions heated back up in the Tok area. The fire was burning in slash and timber with two-foot flame lengths and moderate to high spread potential.
Fire Bosses and helitack worked through the evening dropping water on the fire to knock down flames and heat. 8 smokejumpers and 7 firefighters from Tok Area DOF remained working on the fire overnight.
There has been no significant fire growth since firefighters arrived on scene Sunday, but the fire had burned deep in the duff and fuel layers since the initial lightning start. Tok Area helitack continued to perform bucket drops on Monday and Tanana Chiefs Conference T2 crew arrived on scene to relieve smokejumpers, allowing them to be available for any new starts.
There are currently 17 personnel on the fire, 7 Helitack and 10 TCC crewmembers.
Good progress was made, firefighters are building a saw line and working on new helicopter sling sites and helispots. Firefighters will remain on scene working until the fire is contained.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry (DOF)
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 