Weather keeps fire activity subdued as crews continue work on fire breaks near Eagle

Size:  1,000 acresPersonnel:  40Start Date: July 21, 2024Cause:  Lightning

This will be the final update unless there are significant changes.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Fire activity is minimal, but still present on the Sinnott Fire despite several days of cooler, wetter weather near Eagle. Crews are finishing up work building fire breaks along the American Creek to protect properties and Eagle if warmer weather returns to the area. There is a chance temperature will warm up to the upper 60s on Thursday. However, humidity levels will remain high and scattered showers are predicted.

Using chainsaws, Chugachmiut’s Yukon Crew and Denali Wildland Fire Module is putting in a mile-long fire break around a Native allotment west of the American Creek. Crews also constructed shaded fuel breaks on the north end of the line and in a few spots west of American Creek just north of where the indirect crosses American Creek. 

Meanwhile, the Village of Eagle’s masticator has completed work to re-open old dozer lines running parallel to American Creek south from the Mission Creek.

Instead of following the old dozer line across the American Creek, the crews extended the fire break farther south to include homes within the protected area before linking up with the Taylor Highway south of Eagle. This section runs east from the American Creek, stopping just short of the Taylor Highway north of mile 158 to provide a line of trees to preserve the natural look of the forest closest to the road.

The Sinnott Fire is one of three staffed fires in the state. There were no new fires reported in Alaska since Thursday. As of Tuesday, 355 fires have burned an estimated 630,177 acres in Alaska.

An aerial photo showing people among a fire break in the forest and woody debris piles stacked in the middle of the fire break.
Chugachmiut’s Yukon Crew and Denali Wildland Fire Module are putting in a mile-long fire break around a Native allotment west of the American Creek as shown in this photo from July 29, 2024. Photo by Monika Nicholson, BLM

Weather Forecast:  There is a chance for rain Tuesday afternoon, with scattered showers beginning in the afternoon and a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms in the evening. Winds will shift from northwest to north briefly on Wednesday morning, then to southwest by Thursday. Temperatures will be near 60 degrees today and tomorrow, warming to the mid to upper 60s by Thursday.

Status of the Dome Fire near the Taylor Highway:  Firefighters plan on checking this 3-acre fire west of milepost 117 Taylor Highway in the next few days. The Dome Fire is still considered active, but fire managers are confident it will stay within its control lines. However, motorists may still see smoke coming from this wildfire burning next to the highway.

Contact BLM Alaska Fire Service Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at 907-356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov for more information.

-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 $23 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, BLM Alaska Fire Service

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