The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 244 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $10 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.
The BLM Alaska Fire Service is monitoring several fires in Western Alaska, including two on the Noatak River and one on the Seward Peninsula. Galena Zone personnel will conduct routine flyovers of these large tundra fires. The Tututalak Fire (#135),… Read More ›
Size: 30,590.9 acres Personnel: 57 Start Date: June 8, 2024 Cause: Lightning Updated information at 4:40 p.m., June 17, 2024: Two Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection engines are patrolling the Richardson Highway across the Tanana River from the… Read More ›
Size: 30,022 acres Personnel: 57 Start Date: June 8, 2024 Cause: Lightning FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sunny skies have contributed to warming and drying across the McDonald Fire. On Saturday afternoon, a fly over of the McDonald Fire showed mostly smoldering… Read More ›
Size: 32,725.9 acres Personnel: 54 Start Date: June 8, 2024 Cause: Lightning FAIRBANKS, Alaska – After days of rain, warmer, drier weather will return to the McDonald Fire area this weekend, possibly increasing fire activity and smoke. The Blair Lakes… Read More ›
Size: 32,725.9 acres Personnel: 49 Start Date: June 8, 2024 Cause: Lightning FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The McDonald Fire experienced thunderstorms with lightning and an estimated .15 inch of rain Thursday night. A flight over the fire Thursday afternoon showed minimal… Read More ›
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for northeastern Alaska today, June 14, due to hot, dry conditions and dry lightning. The warning is in effect from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. Friday and covers the Yukon… Read More ›
Size: 32,725 acres (no change) Personnel: 49 Start Date: June 8 Cause: Lightning FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The forecasted weather should continue to keep the McDonald Fire (#119) tempered from what was experienced during the initial days of the fire. This… Read More ›
Size: 32,725 acres Personnel: 49 Start Date: June 8, 2024 Cause: Lightning FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The McDonald Fire received wetting rains early Wednesday morning. Similar conditions are expected throughout the day with scattered to numerous showers accompanying isolated thunderstorms in… Read More ›
Rain fell on much of the McDonald Fire area Monday night, with more predicted, giving firefighters time to prepare cabin sites along 5 Mile Creek in case hot, windy, and dry conditions return. Firefighters started clearing brush from around structures and getting sprinkler systems set in place in case the estimated 28,800-acre fire makes another push south toward the cabins south of the fire.
BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumpers and water scoopers mobilized Monday afternoon to protect a group of cabins threatened as the McDonald Fire continues to grow despite moderated conditions. The fire is estimated at about 24,000 acres.
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 