Don’t let all that snow fool you, Alaska’s wildfire season officially begins on April 1 and Alaskans should prepare accordingly. Alaska’s statutory wildland fire season starts on April 1 and extends through August 31, barring an emergency extension. And like… Read More ›
Soldotna
Firefighters respond to second Swan Lake Fire holdover near Sterling Highway
Firefighters on the Kenai Peninsula are mopping up a second holdover fire from last summer’s Swan Lake Fire that was reported Thursday afternoon by multiple motorists on the Sterling Highway. The Swan Lake Overwinter #2 Fire is estimated at 7.2… Read More ›
Local responders to Aniak plane crash praised; injured state forestry personnel recovering
Three of the four Division of Forestry employees injured in a plane crash in the Western Alaska village of Aniak on Thursday are recovering in Anchorage hospitals today while the fourth has been treated and released. The three individuals still… Read More ›
Firefighters stop spread of wildfire started by burning motorhome near Soldotna
Wildland firefighters from the Alaska Division of Forestry’s Kenai/Kodiak station were able to halt the spread of a small wildfire that was started when a motorhome caught fire Thursday afternoon near Soldotna. Firefighters responded to the fire at approximately 3:45… Read More ›
Four Division of Forestry employees survive plane crash in Aniak
UPDATE 7:45 p.m. – All four Division of Forestry employees that were injured in the crash have been medevaced to Anchorage with serious but non-life threatening injuries. Three of the individuals were medevaced to Alaska Native Medical Center and the… Read More ›
First retardant drop of season helps stop wildfire threatening cabins near Ninilchik
The Alaska Division of Forestry deployed its first air retardant tanker of the season on Sunday to help combat a small wildfire threatening cabins in the Caribou Hills near Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. State Forestry wildland firefighters and firefighters… Read More ›
Swan Lake Fire responds to warm, dry weather with increased smoke
The Swan Lake Fire (#181) burning in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the northern Kenai Peninsula has responded to the warm, dry weather of this past week with increased activity and smoke in the Mystery and Thurman Creek drainages… Read More ›
What’s the difference between a state burn suspension and closure?
Understandably, there seems to be some confusion amongst the public regarding the campfire closure that was recently issued – and has since been rescinded – by the Alaska Division of Forestry and how that relates to burn suspensions. The first… Read More ›
Warm, dry weather pushes Swan Lake Fire to more than 12,500 acres
The Swan Lake Fire in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge grew in size Friday, but firefighters were able to keep it from spreading south and west toward the Sterling Highway. As of Friday night, the fire was estimated at 12,564… Read More ›
Lightning ignites multiple wildfires on Kenai Peninsula
More than 50 wildland firefighters are responding to a 121-acre wildfire on the Kenai Peninsula, one of several wildfires on the Peninsula started by lightning associated with afternoon thunderstorms Wednesday. The Tustumena Lake Fire (#179) is located in the Caribou… Read More ›