Firefighting resources – including a Type 3 incident management team composed primarily of Alaskans – are mobilizing in response to extreme fire behavior from the Ikheenjik Fire (#242) and Turtle Fire (#243), which made a push toward the Steese Highway near Mile 140 by Birch Creek. Once in place, the team will assume management of a cluster of wildfires now grouped under the Ptarmigan Complex.
An Alaska BLM Type 2 contract hand crew and a 10-person firefighting module are scheduled to arrive in the coming days to support protection efforts for nearby communities, Alaska Native allotments and structures scattered throughout the area. These additional personnel will join the 20 smokejumpers and an eight-person National Park Service module with an engine already on the fires.
Fire managers are particularly concerned about the fires east of the Steese Highway, where fuels remain dry and unburned. Fires west of the highway are in an area burned in 2004, which has slowed their growth.
Significant fires in the area:
Turtle Fire (#243) and the Ikheenijik Fire (#242) –They were exhibiting extreme fire behaviorand burned together Friday. A large column of smoke cloud that formed over the fire area Friday night collapsed, obscuring visibility but also moderated fire behavior. It is estimated they have burned about 7,000 acres combined. Four smokejumpers responded from Fairbanks and, with five smokejumpers already on the ground working on the Deadwood Fire, are assessing structures and Alaska Native allotments in the area and determining protection needs.
Deadwood Fire (#214) – Smokejumpers were able to get around two small fires that spotted across the Deadwood Creek Road. This was just days after doing the same on a small fire that spotted east of the Circle Hot Springs Road Thursday night. A bulldozer constructed a fire break on the side closest to the Deadwood Creek Road with smokejumpers working on installing a system of water hose on the left side. The fire area received some rain to help firefighters. Firefighters will concentrate in securing the firelines around the edges. It is estimated at about 100 acres and didn’t show any growth from the previous day.
Ketchem Fire (#240) – This fire is less than an acre and burning near structures close to Circle Hot Springs. A few smokejumpers diverted from the Deadwood Fire, aided by rain, were able to stop its growth and were able to contain the fire. It will be monitored.
Little Mosquito Fire (#241) and East Albert Fire (#244) – these fires are north of the Steese Highway and burning near creeks they’re named for. They were smoldering and creeping in an area burned in 2004 five miles north of Central.
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. 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 