Firefighters put in hard work preparing lines and extinguishing hotspots around the Ptarmigan Complex over the past few days, taking advantage of the cooler, wetter weather. A warming, drying trend is forecast for the next five days. This brings the potential for thunderstorms with lightning and drier fuels that are more receptive to fire.
The Otter Fire (#344) was 90% contained Sunday night with no growth in acreage reported following two days of solid work in rugged terrain by 20 smokejumpers, a helitack crew, and the air crews of multiple firefighting aircraft.
Twenty smokejumpers supported by eight water scooper planes are working Sunday night to contain two new fires – one in the Tanana Zone and one in the Upper Yukon Zone.
Areas of heat and visible smokes remain around the perimeter of the Lush Fire (#199) today. With the weather continuing into a warming and drying trend, more active fire behavior is anticipated.
The Roundabout Complex is now 14,206 acres. Firefighters are making steady progress, continuing point protection around critical values at risk. With a warming and drying trend expected this week, crews are preparing for the potential of increased fire activity.
With higher temperatures and north and west winds, the Ninetyeight Fire (#218) saw slight increases in fire activity on Saturday, with some light torching on the southwest side.Helicopter bucket drops were used to cool hot spots near Mile 34, and crews with water pumps, hoses, and saws worked the area and headed west. Crews assessed fire line and continued to mop up hot spots. Crews are nearing completing of preparation work on Alaska Native allotments and are now doing additional mop up to bolster line depth.
Firefighters assigned to the Ptarmigan Complex continued to make progress Saturday on the Turtle Fire (#243), Alligator Fire (#265), and Birch Fire (#256).
Yesterday, the Northern New Mexico Incident Management Team successfully kept all active fires in the Roundabout Complex within their established perimeters, with the total acreage remaining steady at 13,888 acres. Firefighters continue to use a full suppression strategy, focusing on point protection around critical values at risk.
Twenty smokejumpers and the Vale Helitack crew succeeded in cutting a saw line around the Otter Fire (#344) late Friday night. They had hoses around 50% of the fire perimeter, including the head, by Saturday afternoon.
Additional crews arrived Friday from the lower 48 to work on the Ninetyeight Fire (#218) – the El Dorado Hotshots and the Grass Lake Wildland Fire Module. Though weather was sunny Friday with wind gusts up to 10 mph, no fire growth was observed.
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 