Firefighting resources – including a Type 3 incident management team and multiple crews – are mobilizing to Rampart in response to a group of wildfires burning on both sides of the Yukon River.
A small Type 3 incident management team – composed primarily of BLM Alaska Fire Service (AFS) personnel – is now in place to coordinate efforts to protect Rampart and several Alaska Native allotments threatened by the fires.
Additional ground support arrived Thursday, including the BLM AFS Midnight Sun Hotshots and the North Star Fire Crew, a BLM AFS Type 2 training crew. Each crew brings approximately 21 firefighters to assist with protection efforts.
The largest, the Lush Fire (#214), was first detected around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday during a detection flight. Within two hours, the fire grew rapidly from 15 to an estimated 200 acres as it burned through dense black spruce, exhibiting extreme fire behavior such as running and crowning. It is now estimated at an estimated 1,000 acres.
The Lush Fire is one of several fires in the area now grouped as the Wolverine Complex:
- Russian Fire (#210) – About 6 miles southwest of Rampart
- Elephant Fire (#225) – About 14 miles south of Rampart
- Trout Fire (#230) – About 6 miles southwest of Rampart
- Quail Fire (#195) – About 14 miles southeast of Rampart
- Orum Fire (#200) – About 21 miles southwest of Rampart
All five of these additional lightning-caused fires were discovered Thursday during detection flights and will be monitored.
Twelve smokejumpers who arrived Wednesday night are already working with the community to identify and assess values at risk, including seven Native allotments and a structure on the north side of the Yukon River. Due to the fire’s intensity and rapid growth, the smokejumpers and fire managers determined it was too dangerous to engage directly on the Lush Fire Wednesday night. Extreme fire behavior is expected to continue due to ongoing hot and dry conditions.
-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. 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 