Bonanza Creek Fire (#238): 12,576 acres, 15% containment
Goldstream Creek Fire (#270): 20,530 acres, 14% containment
Personnel: 380
Blackhawk helicopter 1FS sets remote hook down to lift cargo nets filled with food and gear for delivery to the fire. Saturday, July 19, 2025. Nikos Kilcher / AKIMT
Evacuation Information: Evacuation levels were downgraded Wednesday, July 16th by the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management along the Parks Highway corridor.
🔴 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. The areas more than ½ mile west of the highway corridor from MP 317 to the borough boundary. The areas more than ½ mile east of the highway corridor from MP 312 to the borough boundary and to the Tanana River east of the Maich Logging Rd.
- Inside the Borough: Zones include Skinny Dick’s Logging Road, Nenana Ridge Forestry Road and Bonanza Creek Forestry Area.
🟡 Level 2 ‘SET’:
- Outside the Borough: Parks Highway MP 308-317 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, west of the Maich Logging Rd, including Farmview Subdivision. And for residents within ½ mile on each side of the highway from MP 317 to the borough boundary.
- Inside the Borough: Residents with ½ mile on each side of the highway from the borough boundary to MP 338. The Standard Cache zone that includes the middle portion of Standard Creek Road and the beginning of Cache Creek Road.
🟢 Level 1 ‘READY’:
- Outside the Borough: Parks Highway MP 305-309, extending to the Tanana River.
- Inside the Borough: Evacuation zones Parks Mile 338-342, Old Nenana Highway, Standard Creek, Old Ridge Trail, and Cache Creek Road.
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: Today, isolated showers are expected over the White Mountains in the afternoon. Highs have the potential to reach 76 degrees and light winds shifting out of the southwest will usher in cooler temperatures. Drier conditions persist, with relative humidity around 40%. Fire behavior potential remains elevated as heavier fuels and areas of duff continue to hold heat. Surface fuels are dry and supportive of fire spread.
Fire Update: On the Goldstream fire, crews provided protection for critical values at risk along Parks Highway, working to secure the fire line. The Little Goldstream community should be prepared to see fire personnel conducting inventory assessments beginning Sunday, as they prepare to remove equipment out of the area. The team will begin on the south end at mile post 313 on Sunday afternoon and progress to the north end of the community in the following days.
Between mile posts 331 and 332 just south of the Parks Highway, a squirrel midden that extends deep into the ground was putting off significant smoke. Firefighters worked the spot on Saturday, with a reconfiguration of pumps, hoses and portable water tanks. This work will continue today. Drivers should take caution, as there is potential for smoke along the roadway. Helicopters ran water missions along this segment in support of the ground efforts.
Aerial resources also conducted sling load missions aimed at backhauling fire equipment such as hose lays and pumps from sections where successful containment has been achieved. The helicopter also delivered fresh food boxes to spike crews, who remain hard at work in the Ohio Creek drainage area cutting and removing blowdown. A jack-straw effect in the timber is typical after a flaming front moves through the wilderness. The work that must be done to remove these trees can be slow-going. In this case, a heavy Type 1 helicopter and a medium Type 2 worked in conjunction to deliver water buckets to this division of the fire, fast-tracking some of this tedious process.
Extensive firefighting activity continues in the northeast section of the Bonanza Creek Fire where dozer berms are still holding heat. Helicopters assisted to extinguish the heat with ample bucket work. On the western side of this fire, forces continued mopping in, working towards alleviating any potential for spread towards the Little Goldstream community and areas paralleling the Parks Highway.
No Drone Zone: Flying drones near wildfires is illegal and extremely dangerous, often leading to the grounding of firefighting aircraft and potentially causing harm to firefighters and property. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the Nenana Ridge Complex. For more information go to https://tfr.faa.gov
Road Safety: As you drive the Parks Highway, you may not see much firefighting activity, but crews are working deeper in the fire area and are still accessing these areas via the highway. Please use extra caution and watch for firefighters and equipment, especially between MP 318 to 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.
Click the image for a downloadable PDF map of the Nenana Ridge Complex.
More Information: For official updates, visit Alaska Wildland Fire Information at facebook.com/AK.Forestry.
For a 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 Alaska 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 