By Katie Pesznecker
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
Copyright 2007 Anchorage Daily News
All Rights Reserved
KENAI PENINSULA, Alaska — Overnight rainfall on the Kenai Peninsula slowed the Caribou Hills wildfire enough this weekend for fire crews to get inside the destruction zone and pinpoint an additional 45 cabins and houses that were destroyed by the blaze.
That means at least 80 dwellings have been taken out by the fire since it started Tuesday, and more could still be discovered, said Mary Huels, an information officer at fire headquarters.
“They’re continuing to inventory the area and they’re still not finished,” Huels said.
More than 500 firefighters were battling the blaze Sunday, which has covered up to 52,000 acres. That was the figure late Saturday, and Huels said the fire has grown little since.
Occasional light rain that started Saturday night and continued Sunday helped enough that crews could get up close to the flames and use bulldozers and water to create fire barriers. The hope is those lines will hold today.
“We’re hearing it’s going to be warming and drying with more wind,” Huels said. “So we’re concerned about the wind pushing the fire. It has the potential of testing our lines.”
Forecasters on Sunday were predicting winds could gust up to 25 miles per hour.
“We will know the extent of how much work we actually got accomplished today after tomorrow’s winds,” said deputy incident commander Rob Allen in a written statement released Sunday evening.
The fire on Sunday ranged from low, crawling flames to broiling vegetation. Paul Slenkamp, spokesman for the inter-agency team fighting the fire, put the location of the blaze about 11 miles from Ninilchik, and 10 miles from Kasilof.
Oil Well Road remained closed and a no-fly zone was in effect over the area. Slenkamp said officials are concerned that locals with access to planes have begun flying over to see for themselves what shape their property is in. But with all the fire-fighting aircraft working, that’s dangerous, he said.
“We understand, but please, please, please obey the temporary flight restriction.” To get details, call the FAA, he said.
Huels said rumors also flew that new evacuations were ordered. False, she said.
“We have to watch the fire,” Huels said. “We’ll notify people if there is a real (evacuation), but it would come through (local authorities) or fire overhead, not the neighbor down the street.”
The fire team has four tankers, five helicopters and two CLW-215 Canadian scoopers in the area. For as long as the wetter weather permits, firefighters are concentrating on mopping up hot spots and bulldozing “cat lines” around remaining houses, scraping out the vegetation.
Teams continued to bulldoze and drop water along the fire perimeter, getting as close as possible to the blaze itself, thanks to the moist conditions and cool weather, Huels said.
There are now an estimated 500 crew members on site, from across the region and also from the Lower 48. Firefighters work on a two-to-one work-rest ratio, Huels said: If they work 16 hours, for instance, they get an eight-hour rest.
“They’re trying to keep people from getting so utterly exhausted that they start making stupid mistakes out of sheer exhaustion,” Huels said. “They’re at least trying to make sure they get food and water and rest.”
As of Sunday evening, officials said the fire was about 5 percent contained.
Fire officials will hold another meeting tonight for area residents at 7 at Tustamena Elementary School in Kasilof. Officials hope by then to have compiled an updated list on the condition of dwellings within the fire perimeter.