Work is steadily winding down on the seven staffed fires within the U.S. Wildland Fire Service protection area in northern Alaska as fire managers turn their focus on the potential for new fires in the upcomign days. Here’s a rundown of these staffed fires.
The Big Fire is now 85% contained. Most of the firefighters will filter out of the fire area in the next two days with the goal of having all personnel out of Ruby by Saturday.
Firefighters wrapped up work on the Cecil Fire, and others continued making steady progress on the nearby Big Fire. The two incidents were managed together in Ruby by a Type 3 incident management team. The lightning‑caused fires were detected on June 26 and are located about 11 miles east of Ruby, separated by roughly half a mile. Neither fire is threatening the community or nearby Native allotments.
Firefighters have achieved 70% containment on the Cecil Fire (#315), while the Big Fire (#313) continues to hold at 10% contained. For Friday, warmer and drier weather is expected as the possibility of thunderstorms increases. Storms could be slow moving with heavy rain; however, if they miss the fires, temperatures will climb back into the 70s.
Firefighters achieved 10% containment on the Big Fire (#313) and 40% containment on the Cecil Fire (#315) on Tuesday. The fires are about 11 miles east of Ruby but are not currently threatening the community or nearby Native allotments.
A local Type 3 incident management team has assumed command of firefighting efforts for the Big Fire (#313) and the Cecil Fire (#315) near Ruby. The team’s leadership is made up of U.S. Wildland Fire Service personnel from Alaska and personnel from the State of Michigan.
Firefighters took advantage of Sunday’s cooler, wetter weather to continue establishing containment lines around a pair of wildfires near Ruby. Both the Big Fire (#313) and the Cecil Fire (#315) received heavy rain throughout the day. The fires are less than a mile apart and saw no growth Sunday.
The effort to fully suppress the Big Fire (#313) and the Cecil Fire (#315) was reinforced Saturday with the arrival of additional firefighting crews. The lightning-caused fires are separated by less than a mile and are about 11 miles east of Ruby.
Nearly two dozen smokejumpers supported by multiple water-scooping aircraft are working to fully suppress two fires that were detected Friday afternoon near Ruby. The Big Fire (#313), which was previously named the Little Fire, and the Cecil Fire (#315) are separated by less than a mile.
Yesterday June 18, the year-to-date number of acres burned by wildfires inAlaska reached 1,005,196. This is the earliest date for reaching a millionacres since this statistic was first tracked in 1990. Widespread thunderstorms and lightning are causing several new… Read More ›
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 