Smoke from rising fire activity and Canada wildfires triggers air advisory amid cooler weather forecast
More firefighters and aircraft are heading to Eagle to work on the Sinnott Fire, while other wildfires in Interior Alaska remain active on what is expected to be the final day of a heatwave.
Although fire activity picked up on large fires in Interior Alaska, the Sinnott Fire (#383) settled down on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fire is now in an area dominated by hardwoods and steep terrain, a change from Monday when wind pushed the flames through predominately spruce trees. There hasn’t been any substantial growth since then, and the fire has decreased in acreage due to better mapping. It was estimated at 608 acres on Tuesday afternoon.
The Yukon Crew and Denali Wildland Fire Module, both Chugachmiut fire teams based on the Kenai Peninsula, are arriving in Eagle Wednesday. The fire is within 2 miles of the closest cabin just south of Mission Creek. The primary goal is to protect property near Mission Creek, Seventymile Creek, and Eagle while monitoring the fire’s movement.
Meanwhile, 12 smokejumpers and water-scooping Fire Boss airplanes were sent to the T’eedriinjik Fire (#380) northwest of Venetie in response to the fire spotting outside the main perimeter Wednesday afternoon. The Mooseheart Crew, a Type 2 BLM contract crew with firefighters from Fairbanks, Tanana, and Minto, along with BLM Alaska Fire Service Fire Specialists, were tracking down and extinguishing hot spots when the fire flared up, prompting the call for additional resources. This fire was originally estimated at 5 acres, with spot fire potentially doubling the burned area. However, the fire is not immediately threatening any sites of value.
A Division of Forestry & Fire Protection (DOF) helicopter, engine and firefighters, plus four Tanana Chiefs Fire crew firefighters, will continue working on the Dome Fire (#386), west of mile 117 Taylor Highway. They’ve been successful in keeping the fire at 3 acres.
The continued drying allowed some fires to increase their smoke production. The southern flank of the McDonald Fire (#119) south of Fairbanks and the more than 20,000-acre East Toklat Fire (#278) deep within Denali National Park and Preserve added to the smoke impacting the Tanana Flats on Wednesday. The National Fire, part of the Grapefruit Complex, also continues to produce smoke. None of these fires are directly threatening any known sites of value.
Firefighters used a helicopter to drop water and successfully cool down a northwest section of the Slate Fire, one of the six fires in the Grapefruit Complex. The Slate Fire (#248) burned up Globe Creek and Tatalina River drainages, merging with the Iver and Eagle Fires for a combined total of over 54,000 acres southwest of the Elliott Highway near mile 44.
Upper-level smoke from Canada is dominating the region as well, prompting the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to issue an air quality advisory for Central and Eastern Alaska. The air quality will fluctuate between good and unhealthy until wetting rains move through the region starting Thursday.
A low-pressure system is expected to move into the western half of the state, bringing temperatures closer to 50-60 degrees with thunderstorms. According to Alaska Interagency Coordination Center meteorologist Eric Stevens, the storms could bring lightning accompanied by up to half an inch of rain in some areas, significantly reducing the chance for new fire starts.
However, the Copper River, the Yukon Flats, Tok and Eagle are not forecasted to receive as much rain, but will still experience cooler, wetter weather that will likely subdue fire activity.
With the exception with a period of sunshine on Sunday, this weather pattern is expected to stick around for the next week.
For more information, contact BLM AFS Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov.
-BLM-
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, P.O. Box 35005, 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703
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The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $18.1 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 