BLM Alaska Fire Service

An Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) comes in for a landing along the Yukon River. Two fire personnel are shown standing along the river with their yellow Nomex shirts and green Nomex pants. Across the river, an island with tall spruce is seen. The air is very smokey.

Lush Fire utilizes water scoopers to protect Alaska Native Allotments

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Yesterday, fire behavior on the Lush Fire (#199) was active with small wind-driven winds, flanking, and backing. The most active area of the fire was on the southwest corner. Smokejumpers were inserted into that corner to construct direct line and keep fire out of the Native Alaska Allotments. Later in the day, helicopters with buckets and then water scoopers performed effective operations on this area. They were also utilized on the northern flank of the fire where areas of heat have been detected.

Aerial view of smoke rising from the ground near a burn scar in a forested area

Ninetyeight Fire grows towards the north and west; Firefighters gain containment near structures

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The Ninetyeight Fire (#218) remained active yesterday under continued hot and dry conditions. It is now 10,544 acres in size, with some growth to the north and west. On the southwest side, the fire is burning in hardwoods, which has moderated fire spread. Yesterday scooper aircraft and helicopters conducted water drops on the southwest corner from Salcha to the boundary of military land to assist hotshots in keeping that portion of the fire in check.

A smoke plume rises on the Lush Fire (#199). The fire is very active and pushing towards the southwest corner of the fire. The plume is rising straight up the Yukon River is on the bottom of the photograph.

Lush Fire exhibits extreme fire behavior with two mile run

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At approximately 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, winds on the Lush Fire (#199) increased dramatically (up to 30 miles per hour). Extreme fire behavior with wind driven runs, running fire, and spotting occurred. The fire made an estimated two mile run in under two hours, with the fire pushing from southcentral to southwest of the perimeter. Three crews had to be pulled off of the fire and shuttled across the Yukon River towards Rampart. Tankers dropped 2 loads of fire retardant around a cabin on the southwest corner of the fire.

A large smoke plume rises above a thickly forested area.

Multiple aircraft respond to southwest spread on Ninetyeight Fire

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Yesterday afternoon, strong winds pushed Ninetyeight Fire (#218) approximately one mile to the southwest. Multiple aircraft responded, including water-scooping aircraft and helicopters, dropping water on the new southwest flank near Mile 32.5. The strong aerial support enabled firefighters to prevent the fire from crossing the Salcha River, and no structures were damaged. The fire is now burning in hardwood fuels. Firefighters made solid progress on structure protection in the area, plumbing many cabins for defense. A hotshot crew will continue patrolling nearby structures around Miles 31-32 and improving protection measures, and firefighters will go direct on this portion of the fire today to prevent additional spread.

Map of Roundabout Complex for July 2, 2025. The Caribou Fire is in the northeast. The Moldy and Richards Fires are in the southwest. The Billy Hawk and Billy Hawk 2 Fires are in the northwest.

Firefighters continue progress on Roundabout Complex as reconnaissance and resource shifts begin

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Crews are advancing work across the 14,302-acre Roundabout Complex, with nine percent of the incident complete. Prep, mop-up, and gridding efforts continue across multiple fires, while teams prepare resource shifts and tactical transitions. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is now in place to support Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) operations over key fire areas.