Public on the Glenn Highway saw less smoke from the Nelchina Glacier Fire (#226), 4 miles south of Eureka Junction yesterday as crews continue to use helicopter buckets to support fire suppression efforts. Today, crews will continue to construct direct fire line to mineral soil as they work on the western and eastern edges of the fire to the north towards Eureka Creek. Once fire line is constructed, crews will begin the process of “plumbing the line”. In this process, crews begin installing pumps and hose lays with nozzles to spray water on the hot spots, cooling the fire perimeter and minimizing threats to the line. The Nelchina Glacier fire has multiple small ponds and water sources throughout the fire area, making hose lays a very valuable tool for fire fighters on the ground. Yesterday, crews successfully installed 2000’ feet of hose along the fire perimeter.
For areas that haven’t had hose lays inserted yet, crews will continue mopping up the fire with backpack pumps. These backpack style pumps worn by fire fighters carry five gallons of water which is applied to the fire with a pump-style nozzle. Although dirty and damp work, it’s vital for the prevention of hot spots growing and becoming a threat to the fire line. In addition to hose lays and backpack pumps, water dropping helicopters stationed at Gunsight Lodge along the Glenn Highway will still continue to support the hard work on the ground by supporting the crews with water drops. These water drops allow the fire’s edge to be cooled quickly as fire fighters stir the water and hot debris into a muddy paste preventing flareups.
The dozers assigned to the fire are 300’ from completing the fuel break north of Eureka Creek near the gravel pit on the Glenn Highway near mile marker 133. Fire managers will continue to monitor the fire behavior in case the dozer line is needed to be utilized as a containment line, however at this point, the fire has not crossed the Eureka Creek drainage and poses no threats to the homes south of Glenn Highway. Once the dozer line is completed, the dozers will stage at the fire for future missions.
Holiday traffic continues to be very heavy along the Glenn Highway near the fire area which poses a risk to the firefighters on the ground. There will continue to be a heavy presence of both ground and aviation resources assigned to the fire near Gunsight Lodge and the public is encouraged to slow down and drive with caution. The Glenn Highway has been signed in the fire area to serve as a friendly reminder of firefighters in the area.
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry (DOF)
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 