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White Mountain T2IA crew deploying to Uncle Sam Creek Fire south of Salcha River

By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on July 31, 2025

The Uncle Sam Creek Fire (#376) is currently 873 acres and is located about 19 miles east of Salcha, between Uncle Sam and McCoy creeks. This lightning-caused fire first discovered on July 3 and was initially responded to with helitack crews, scooper planes, and helicopters. The fire had been burning into burn scars from the 2023 McCoy Creek Fire. Due to a lack of an immediate threat to infrastructure and higher-priority fires in the region, it was previously unstaffed.

Thursday, a reconnaissance flight identified several areas still holding heat. The White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack (T2IA) crew will be flown in Friday to secure a 50-foot perimeter and extinguish the hot spots. Additionally, a drone will conduct a full infrared flight of the area to pinpoint any other remaining hot spots. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place to ensure the safety of both the drone and aerial support from helicopters and planes.

A red and white helicopter sits on a sand and gravel with various equipment such as a chainsaw, tools and bags lying on the ground near the helicopter. — Equipment waits to be loaded Thursday morning, July 31, 2025, on a helicopter headed to Uncle Sam Creek Fire (#376). A reconnaissance flight detected several areas holding heat on the fire that has been in monitor status since an initial attack response July 3. DOF White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew will be shuttled to the fire Friday to secure the fire’s perimeter. Dane Smigleski/DOF

The Monte Cristo Fire (#319) is currently 8,773 acres and is located about 29 miles east of Salcha. This lightning-caused fire was reported on June 22 and has been in monitor status because it is burning in a limited management area.

Recently, a small hot spot was detected on the fire’s north perimeter, right at the edge of a black spruce area. A warming trend is expected, so a crew will be inserted as soon as resources are available to secure this area. Drones will be used to find any other heat around the perimeter, helping ground crews pinpoint exactly where to go.

Both fires were previously unstaffed to allow resources to be directed to higher-priority fires that were threatening communities and infrastructure. Now that the threat from those fires has been reduced, crews and aerial resources are available to actively work on the Uncle Sam Creek and Monte Cristo Creek fires.

Continuous helicopter activity north of Birch Lake and along the Salcha River Corridor can be expected as crew shuttles and equipment are flown out to these fires.

There are no new evacuations in place due to these two fires. However, the Lower, Middle, and Upper Salcha areas remain in a “ready” status because of the Ninetyeight Fire (#218) north of the Salcha River.