The fires that make up the Ptarmigan Complex near Central and Circle received wetting rain from thunderstorms that passed through the area overnight. A quarter inch of rain was recorded at the portable weather station firefighters set up east of Central. Rain and isolated thunderstorms are expected today and fire behavior is likely to be less active, however, smoldering is expected to continue and outflow winds from passing thunderstorms could lead to increased fire activity.
The Smith River Hotshots arrived Tuesday, allowing 12 of the 20 smokejumpers assigned to the complex to demobilize to prepare for future assignments. One hundred people are now assigned to the complex.
The public is asked to be aware that firefighters will be assessing structures and potential fuel breaks in the Central area over the next few days. Please give them plenty of room to work.
Turtle Fire (#243) –After arriving in the afternoon, the Smith River Hotshots were briefed and began familiarizing themselves the area where they will be working. Smokejumpers patrolled the river by boat. They reported no fire activity and no smoke in the flats between the western flank of the fire and the river. Along both the northern and southern edges of the fire smoldering heat remains in the hardwoods, increasing to the east. Today, Smith River will work in the area of Mile 141, as well as in the Birch Creek Bridge area. The fire will be flown and monitored every day as weather and smoke conditions allow.
Deadwood Fire (#214) – Yesterday, the Council of Athabaskan Tribal Governments Type 2 wildland firefighting crew and the Paradise Valley Type 2 hand crew gridded the fire to a depth of 300 feet in from the fire’s edge. Today these crews will continue with gridding and mopping up the remaining pockets of heat in the interior of the fire.
Ketchem Fire (#240) – The fire was called out at the end of shift Tuesday. No growth or heat has been found in the past three days. The Black Hills Wildland Fire Module thoroughly gridded the entire fire and found no remaining heat.
Alligator Fire (#265) – Rain moderated overall fire behavior but there is consistent heat still along the northwest flank of the fire where it has entered an unburned area and is following stringers of spruce along the drainages. No fire activity was observed on the southern edge of the fire in the flats where the fire is closest to Central. The fire is still estimated to be around 1,100 acres.
Birch Fire (#256) – The fire made a small run to the north due to outflow winds from the thunderstorm that passed through the area early Tuesday morning. The fire is holding in the hardwoods that border the creek. Minimal fire activity was observed around the rest of the fire. The fire is estimated to be 2,700 acres and remains 3.5 miles from Circle.
Little Mosquito Fire (#241) – No fire activity was observed over the past three days. It will remain in monitor status.
-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 