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.
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
Current Situation: The two spot fires from the #HessCreekFire that crossed the Elliott Highway on Tuesday grew by five additional acres by the time firefighters finished constructing line Thursday evening. Suppression efforts were impeded by hazardous trees, which continued to… Read More ›
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 