Bonanza Creek Fire (#238): 12,556 acres, 5 % containment
Goldstream Creek Fire (#270): 20,551 acres, 3 % containment
Personnel: 475
Road Safety: Additional crews from Himalaya Road and Bear Creek fires, along with engines from DOF, bolstered Nenana Ridge Complex’s workforce the past several days to help achieve containment of the fires’ edge along the Parks Highway. As of 6:00 PM last night, all pilot car activity related to the Nenana Ridge Complex fires have been discontinued.
While the fire is no longer threatening the highway, fire crews are still hard at work containing the wildfire. Please use extra caution and watch for firefighters and equipment, especially between MP 318 and MP 340. Pilot car operations are taking place through an active construction zone unrelated to fire activities. For more information about this construction project go to: https://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/parks319to325/. For real-time road updates, visit 511.alaska.gov.
Community Meeting: A community meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, at 6:00 p.m. at the Nenana Civic Center. Hear updates from the Alaska Complex Incident Management Team 2 and ask questions you have about the Nenana Ridge Complex. The meeting will be recorded and posted online after its conclusion.
Evacuation Information: Evacuation levels were updated on Thursday, July 10th, by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
🔴 Level 3 ‘GO!’:
- Outside the Borough: From the borough’s western edge, 4.5 miles west; from Sled Road north for 7 miles from the Alaska Railroad. This includes Standard Creek Road and nearby timber harvest access areas.
- Inside the Borough: Parks Highway corridor MP 316.5–338, as well as MP 338–341 south of the highway is in ‘GO!’ status. This includes all residences within at least a one-mile radius of the highway.
🟡 Level 2 ‘SET’:
- Outside the Borough: Parks Highway MP 309-316.5 is in level 2 ‘SET’, extending west of the highway to include homes along Little Goldstream Road, agricultural areas, and the Alaska Railroad. Extending east of the highway to include homes and agricultural areas north of Little Goldstream Creek.
- Inside the Borough: The Standard Cache zone including the middle portion of Standard Creek Road and the beginning of Cache Creek Road is in level 2 ‘SET’.
🟢 Level 1 ‘READY’:
- Outside the Borough: Parks Highway MP 305-309 is in Level 1 ‘READY’.
- Inside the Borough: MP 338 to 351 north of the Parks Highway, as well as the Old Nenana Highway, east end of Standard Creek Road, Old Ridge Trail, and Equinox Trail encompassing Cache Creek Road are also in Level 1 ‘READY’.
Evacuation shelters in both Nenana and Fairbanks have closed. Shelter options for both people and animals will be provided again if they are needed due to evacuations or fire behavior. Call Fairbanks North Star Borough at 907-459-1308 for additional information.
Fire Weather: Although the fire area did receive some rain on Tuesday, it was not a wetting rain, and it is expected to have a small influence on fire behavior. Fire scientists were in the field on Tuesday and found the duff in many areas to be severely dry, affected by prolonged drought. Wednesday is a transition day as a ridge of high pressure moves into the area, bringing warm, dry weather. Temperatures should climb back into the 70’s this week.
Fire Update: Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of fire personnel, both the Goldstream Creek and Bonanza Creek fires are now partially contained, and the pilot car system will no longer be operating through the fire area. Crews have been busy backhauling hoses, pumps, sprinklers, and other firefighting equipment near the highway in preparation for more regular traffic flow.
Firefighters are continuing priority work around edges of both fires that continue to hold heat and have seen creeping and single tree torching more recently. Much of this work is on the Goldstream Creek Fire, in the large area of unburned fuels to the east of Twomile Lake, and around the most eastern finger of fire just west of Ohio Creek. Crews are employing a combination of building indirect line ahead of the fire and going direct on the fire’s edge extinguishing hotspots with the aid of aircraft. Structures continue to be protected in the Little Goldstream community and the Dineege Subdivision. On the Bonanza Fire, firefighters equipped with pumps and hoses continue south of Mile Post 333, suppressing hot spots in piles made by bulldozers and in the very dry duff holding heat deep in the ground.
More Information: For official updates, visit Alaska Wildland Fire Information at akfireinfo.com or follow facebook.com/AK.Forestry.
For the PDF version of this update click here.
For the interactive Alaska Wildland Fire Information Map Series go here: https://arcg.is/1a0yT03
For video briefings and more fire-related content from the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection, visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AlaskaDNRDOF
Public Information Line: (907) 331-0454
Email: 2025.nenanaridgecomplex@firenet.gov
Categories: Active Wildland Fire, AK Fire Info, Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry (DOF)
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 