Alaska & Canada
BY CARY JAMES
In Alaska and the pacific northwest region of Canada, the relatively active fire season of 2005 was overshadowed by the previous year’s record-shattering season. Although the area experienced above-average burning, most of the acres burned were located in sparsely populated, limited-response areas, unlike 2004’s high-profile fires near Fairbanks and along the highways of Alaska and Canada.
Alaska
Although the 2005 Alaska fire season will go down in the record books as the third largest in terms of acres burned, the year was relatively mild in terms of fires in the wildland/urban interface. Some 4.7 million acres of Alaska’s wilderness burned this season, topped only by last year’s 6.6 million acres and the 1957 fire season, in which 5 million acres burned. Of the 2005 burns, the federal Alaska Fire Service saw the majority of the action, with 3.9 million acres burnt, while state fires accounted for 707,000 acres. Combined, the 2004 and 2005 Alaska fire seasons burned more total acres than all those burned between 1991 and 2003, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.
Photo by Carey James
Responding firefighters were initially surprised by the
intensity of the Tracy Avenue Fire near Homer, which
charred more than 5,400 acres of beetle killed spruce in
May before it was contained.
Arguably the most significant feature of this year’s season, however, was its early start in late April on the Kenai Peninsula and Tok areas. “With the dried grass mixed in with beetle-killed spruce, the fire was actually burning through areas with snow on the ground,” says Northern Region Fire Manage-ment Officer Tom Kurth, who leads the state’s Type 2 team, which managed several of Alaska’s largest fires, including the early Kenai Peninsula Fire.
Another unusual feature of this year’s fire season occurred in late June, when thunderclouds built up over parts of the Kenai Peninsula, peppering the entire area with lightning strikes. Traditionally, the area sees only one or two lightning-caused fires per year, but in 2005, several fires started as a result of the unusual weather, including the 26,300-acre Fox Creek Fire. Kurth says 2005 was possibly the first year the state saw more fires caused by lightning than by humans.
Photo AP/Judy Swanson
Air resources worked the Sheenjek River
Fire in June in an effort to keep it from
crossing the river. Eventually, incident
commanders set up an air traffic control
tower in Fort Yukon to manage the
helicopters, water scoopers, cargo
and supply aircraft.
In addition, concerns about wildland/ urban interface fires, such as the Fairbanks, the Tracy Avenue and the King County Creek fires, were on the rise. “You are trying to manage for fire management and for wildlife habitat, but at the same time, [you must keep] public safety and public improvements in mind,” Kurth says. “You have to [depend] on your weather forecasting and fire behavior, and the public is right there and very much involved.”
Air quality was also a major issue in 2005, as most of the state experienced smoke-filled air, causing some fires in limited-suppression areas to be staffed.
Below are some of the larger fires that occurred in Alaska in 2005.
Tracy Avenue Fire
Mid-afternoon on April 29, a call came in to state and local volunteer firefighters reporting smoke several miles outside Homer on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula. Crews scrambled to respond to the fire, which started because of a downed power line and grew to 500 acres by the following morning. The incident served as one of the first examples of what fire can do when it meets thick stands of beetle-killed spruce that surround many Peninsula communities.
Firefighters concentrated their efforts on establishing a secure fire break using bulldozers and fire crews, but flames jumped the line in at least one place, exhibiting extreme fire behavior before firefighters extinguished it. In all, the Tracy Avenue Fire consumed more than 5,000 acres; it was contained May 18.
This incident highlighted the fact that the state does not have resources on hand to combat early fires. Typically, crews train in early May and may not be certified for the year. Only one airtanker was available for the entire state, and it did not arrive until several days after the fire started.
Island Lake Fire
The Island Lake Fire started May 10 just north of Milepost 1,231 on the Alaska Highway, some eight miles from the U.S. Customs station, and was very active from the start. By mid-May, nearly 200 personnel were assigned to the fire, including a Type 2 incident command team. Dry, warm temperatures spurred the lightning-caused fire, and its proximity to the Canadian border inspired a swift response. The fire was contained by May 21 at 1,300 acres.
Sheenjek River Fire
On June 12, a fire was spotted north of the community of Fort Yukon on the Sheenjek River, on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge land north of the Arctic Circle. Within a week, the fire became the top priority for wildland firefighters in the state because of its proximity to residential areas.
In a 24-hour period, the fire grew from 15,000 acres to 23,510 acres, and by June 22, it had grown to 60,000 acres in size. Smoke flooded the community of Fort Yukon, which is located 145 miles northeast of Fairbanks and is home to approximately 600 people.
Firefighters struggled to keep the flames from crossing the Porcupine River. In fact, so many air resources worked the fire in an effort to keep it from crossing the river that incident commanders set up an air traffic control tower in Fort Yukon to manage the helicopters, water scoopers, cargo and supply aircraft.
By July, the fire had grown to more than 105,000 acres. As the flames spread north, firefighting efforts focused on protecting cabins and allotment areas, and all but 50 firefighters were demobilized. The incident was officially declared out on Sept. 26, although it was never technically contained. All fire resources were demobilized July 9.
Chapman Creek Fire
Although the Chapman Creek Fire started in a limited-suppression area May 30 south of Coldfoot, the lightning-started incident required staffing by the end of June to keep the flames within acceptable areas. Three loads of smokejumpers as well as emergency firefighter and Alaska hotshot crews were assigned to the fire as suppression activity began. As many as 143 resources worked
the fire.
By early July, the fire reached nearly 160,000 acres. Heavy rain helped quell
the blaze, but it also hampered firefighters’ efforts to perform a burnout operation. At press time, officials expected the fire to be contained Oct. 30.
King County Creek Fire
This lightning-caused fire began on the Kenai Peninsula in late June and led the pack in staffing by early July, with more than 250 people working the blaze. In total, more than 10,000 acres burned, which at times sent smoke columns 8,000 feet into the air.
A burnout operation in late June added some 3,000 acres to the fire, and firefighters used airtankers to lay a wet line. One Type 2 incident management team (IMT), three Type 1 hotshot crews and as many as seven Type 2 hand crews worked the fire.
Fox Creek Fire
Starting July 11, the Fox Creek Fire burned south of Tustumena Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Within a week, the fire grew to 31,100 acres, and although it burned in a limited-suppression area, crews were deployed to construct indirect control lines and make sure the blaze didn’t escape its allotted boundaries.
Two CL-215 water-scooping aircraft were used on the fire, along with a Type 2 IMT. By the season’s end, the fire was listed at 26,300 acres and remains on monitor status.
Boundary Creek Fire
On July 12, a lightning strike lit the Boundary Creek Fire, located six miles outside the town of Eagle, which has a population of 115. The fire quickly burned 11,000 acres in the United States and spread approximately 2,400 acres into Canada, with agencies from both countries working the fire.
By the end of the month, more than 400 personnel worked the fire, and as with other incidents, smoke from the blaze clouded interior Alaska air.
In August, the fire grew to 60,000 acres on the American side and 5,500 acres in Canada, slowing traffic on the Taylor Highway. The fire was demobilized around Aug. 17 and placed on monitor status.
Mission Creek Fire
Located near the Boundary Creek Fire and approximately nine miles west of Eagle, the lightning-caused Mission Creek Fire started July 15. More than 150 crewmembers worked the fire, which spread to nearly 24,000 acres by early August. The fire was placed on monitor status as of Aug. 14 and was listed as 25 percent contained.
Slomon Fork Fire
Located 30 miles southeast of Chalkyitsik near Fort Yukon, the Slomon Fork Fire was the largest of the season, burning 236,701 acres after lightning ignited it on July 19. Due to its remote location, fire-suppression activity was limited. It was declared
extinguished Sept. 26.
Canada
In the Canadian northwest, the 2005 fire season was significantly more moderate than last year’s season. Although much of the Yukon experienced above-average temperatures throughout the summer, the lightning activity, while above normal, did not set any records, as it had in 2004.
In all, the Yukon experienced 82 fires, compared to 282 the year before. The season ranked 12th in number of acres burned with 531,111 acres.
Among the larger fires of the season was the Shanghai Fire in the Mayo District near the Strata Gold Mining Camp. The fire was started by lightning June 15 and was fought by Yukon Wildland Fire Management firefighters, along with a DC-6 airtanker and crews from Dawson and Mayo. Although the camp was not in imminent danger, it was given site protection, as were other mining camps in the area.
Yukon firefighters also battled blazes along the Alaska border. In British Columbia, some 86,450 acres burned in nearly 1,000 fires in 2005, the majority of which were in the Prince George region of the province.
Suppression costs for 2005 totaled $4.8 million (Canadian) compared with more than $20 million in 2005.
Carey James is a writer and volunteer firefighter based in Homer, Alaska.
