Galena Zone Fires

Lightning triggers at least a dozen new fires in northwestern Alaska

A wave of lightning moved across the northwestern part of the state Tuesday afternoon, triggering about a dozen new fires from Galena north to the Noatak River Valley. Some of the new fires drew quick response from smokejumpers, water-scooping aircraft and another aircraft to help coordinate the suppression efforts and relaying situational information back to BLM AFS Galena Zone fire managers in Galena.