BLM Alaska Fire Service

Mile long fuel break completed next to the Elliott Highway – Hess Creek Fire Update 7/19/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 19, 2019

Crews working on the #HessCreekFire finished installing a 1-mile long fuel break parallel to the Elliott Highway Thursday. The finished product resulted in a 30-foot-wide removal of black spruce and shrub, which will reduce the amount of burnable vegetation along… Read More ›

Firefighters enhance fuel break along Elliott Highway – Hess Creek Fire Update 7/18/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 18, 2019

Aerial footage of the two hot spots across the Elliott Highway A type 3 team from Wyoming will begin arriving in Fairbanks over the next few days to replace the Southern Idaho team, which finishes their 14-day assignment on Saturday…. Read More ›

Saw line completed along Cleary Creek drainage – Hess Creek Fire update 7/17/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 17, 2019

Crews made excellent progress placing saw line from the Elliott Highway north to the Cleary Creek drainage to tie into an already burned area of the #HessCreekFire. This line will provide a solid anchor point to begin firing operations should… Read More ›

Crews to start saw line operations up Cleary Creek Drainage – Hess Creek Fire Update 7/16/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 16, 2019

Firefighters continue to actively monitor weather patterns to prepare for an increase in fire activity on the #HessCreekFire should warmer weather occur. Higher humidity and lower temperatures are limiting fire spread. However, because black spruce needles and branches are highly… Read More ›

Precipitation reduces fire activity on the Hess Creek Fire – Update for 7/15/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 15, 2019

Firefighters continue to actively monitor weather patterns to prepare for an increase in fire activity. While higher humidity and lower temperatures reduce fire activity, the fuel type this fire is burning in is highly susceptible to taking off should conditions… Read More ›

Map of lightning and fires in Northwest Alaska. The purple and red arrows are lightning strikes in the last 36 hours. The fire numbers in the 500 and above range are new starts.

Lightning delivers another round of fires in northwestern Alaska

By BLM Alaska Fire Service on July 14, 2019

Fire season has ebbed and flowed in Western Alaska with lightning delivering another round of fires in the past few days. Lightning ignited 11 new fires in three days within the BLM Alaska Fire Service Galena Zone had that encompasses… Read More ›

Photo of Members of the North Star Type 2 hand crew pick up brush piles in the village of Chalkyitsik, Alaska, on Saturday, July 13, 2019. Firefighters have completed their structure protection setup in the community of 57 residents. The Frozen Calf Fire (#367) and the Bearnose Hill Fire (#407) continue to grow toward the village. Sam Harrel/Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team

Upper Yukon Zone remains warm and dry

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 14, 2019

Hot and dry conditions remain over most areas of the Upper Yukon Zone. Temperatures are forecasted to be in the 80s over the next several days. Winds will generally be out of the west at 5-10 mph. Some isolated thunderstorms… Read More ›

Hess Creek Fire grows to 170,293 acres – Fire Update 7/14/19

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 14, 2019

The reduction in smoke allowed operation personnel to fly the 127-mile perimeter of the #HessCreekFire on Saturday. The south edge of the fire received moisture for the second consecutive day. It continues to smolder just north of the Mercantile; slowly… Read More ›

Tanana Zone fires hide in their own smoke

By Alaska Fire PIOs on July 12, 2019

Many of the fires burning in the Tanana Zone were hidden in smoke, causing veteran firefighters near the fires to rely on satellite imagery to provide essential information such as the distance the head of the fire had moved, or… Read More ›

Hazardous Trees along Elliott Highway – Hess Creek Fire Update 7/12/19