The Ptarmigan Complex is staffed by 127 people following the arrival Thursday of 12 additional smokejumpers and the 11-person Big Sky Helitack crew from Montana. A Type 3 helicopter with Big Sky is assigned to the incident and an additional Type 3 helicopter and a Type 2 helicopter are available to assist the incident as needed.
Smith River Hotshots constructed three-quarters of a mile of indirect line Wednesday near Mile 148 to help protect Alaska Native allotments near the Birch Creek Bridge. That work will continue today. The Alaska Range Module will continue to assess, prioritize, and prep structures along the Steese Highway.
The fires that make up the Ptarmigan Complex near Central and Circle received wetting rain from thunderstorms that passed through the area overnight. A quarter inch of rain was recorded at the portable weather station firefighters set up east of Central.
The fires that make up the Ptarmigan Complex near Central and Circle experienced wetting rain and thunderstorms overnight. More rain and thunderstorms are expected today. This will impact helicopter flights and some operations.
To protect the public and provide for firefighter safety in light of ongoing wildland fire activity associated with the Turtle Fire (#243), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Eastern Interior Field Office announced the closure Monday night of the Lower Birch Creek Wayside near Mile 140 of the Steese Highway.
The Council of Athabaskan Tribal Governments Type 2 wildland firefighting crew and the Paradise Valley Type 2 hand crew arrived in Central on Sunday to help fight the fires that make up the Ptarmigan Complex.
A Type 3 incident management team composed primarily of Alaskans took command of the Ptarmigan Complex at 7 a.m. today. The Ptarmigan Complex is made up of a group of fires burning near Central and Circle. The Black Hills Wildland… Read More ›
Firefighting resources – including a Type 3 Incident Management Team composed primarily of Alaskans – are mobilizing in response to extreme fire behavior from the Ikheenjik and Turtle Fires, which made a push toward the Steese Highway near Mile 140 by Birch Creek. Once in place, the team will assume management of a cluster of wildfires now grouped under the Ptarmigan Complex.
Due to increased fire activity from a group of wildfires burning near Central and Circle, State of Alaska Emergency Operations Center has issued a Level 1 “Ready” evacuation area impacted by the six fires in the area.
BLM Alaska Fire Service is responding to a fire southwest of Central. Two single-engine and two multi-engine water scoopers are en route to the Deadwood Fire (#214), and BLM AFS is also mobilizing smokejumpers.
Alaska Wildland Fire Information 