Copyright 2006 Anchorage Daily News
All Rights Reserved
By PETER PORCO
Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
Firefighting crews continued working Wednesday to extinguish a half-dozen wildland blazes from Talkeetna to Kasilof, including an 80-acre fire on Fort Richardson.
Fire managers were confident all of the fires, some burning since Tuesday, would soon be brought under control, authorities said. Most of them were in a mop-up stage.
However, continued hot, dry weather Wednesday kept general fire danger high throughout the area, with particularly bad conditions in the Susitna Valley and on the central Kenai Peninsula. Firefighters and equipment were poised and in position in several areas for the first sign of a new fire or an existing fire flaring up again.
The Fort Richardson blaze began about 4 p.m. Tuesday — a day of record-setting heat — near Otter Lake where Alaska Railroad workmen were grinding welds on the main rails, said railroad spokesman Tim Thompson.
The cause of the fire, under investigation by the U.S. Army Alaska, is officially yet to be determined, Thompson said. But, he added, there is a “strong possibility” it was ignited in vegetation alongside the tracks by sparks from the grinding.
Helped by a light wind, the flames soon climbed into the spruce tree tops and spread east-southeast in the direction of the post’s buildings, although crews stopped it well before that. At one point it rolled harmlessly over concrete ammunition storage bunkers.
By midday Wednesday, the blaze was being attacked by 106 firefighters, with 24 additional crew expected Wednesday night, said Chuck Canterbury, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Alaska.
“They’re in the mop-up mode,” Canterbury said. “They’re watering it. They’re feeling pretty confident about the way things are going right now.”
Fire managers expected to have the fire contained — the flames suppressed along its entire perimeter — by Wednesday night, and fully controlled by Friday, he said.
On the Kenai Peninsula, the 67-acre Cohoe Loop fire near Kasilof was contained by midnight Tuesday, said Pete Buist, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Forestry.
“We feel confident but not cocky,” Buist said. “There’s still a fair amount of smoke, and you may even see flames in places in the interior. Our objective is to have it 100 percent out.”
That fire, also under investigation, was caused by human actions, but Buist said he had no other details. Two other small fires in the area were quickly controlled Tuesday, he said.
Conditions on the Kenai Peninsula on Wednesday were “extreme,” said Buist.
“We have high temperatures and fairly low relative humidity,” he said. “We have a bit of wind, and we’re just not quite into green-up yet. And unfortunately, you have to pair that with the fact that everybody is cleaning up at this time of year.”
A ban on open burning was in effect Wednesday and for the foreseeable future on the Kenai Peninsula as well as in Anchorage and the Mat-Su valleys.
“We have a lot of folks and a lot of equipment pre-positioned right now,” Buist said Wednesday. “A crew came off the Cohoe Loop fire this morning and instead of just sending them home, they’re being staged (nearby) ... because they may be needed in a hurry. We have brought in extra engine crews from Fairbanks and Delta.”
In the Susitna Valley, fire crews had already contained the Sunset blaze — southwest of Wasilla on Knik Knack Mudshack Road, at Mile 10 Knik-Goose Bay Road. That fire was held to 20 acres, said Matt Weaver, a Division of Forestry spokesman.
It burned new growth and undergrowth in an area that was scorched 10 years ago in the huge Big Lake fire.
The Sunset fire started Monday and also was apparently caused by humans. The details were under investigation, Weaver said. It destroyed a three-story home, a bulldozer, a tractor, two other vehicles, a generator and various outbuildings.
On Wednesday, it was smoldering and smoking in places, though crews had soaked its entire perimeter, according to Weaver.
Two other Susitna Valley fires — a four-acre blaze at Flat Horn Lake and another four-acre fire near Chase, north of Talkeetna — were in mop-up stage, authorities said.
Federal smoke jumpers fighting the Flat Horn Lake fire were expected to demobilize by Wednesday evening, said Division of Forestry spokesman Glen Holt.
“They’ve got a flight scheduled to pull them. Of course, it’s always subject to what the weather does,” Holt said.
That fire has burned four acres of trees and one cabin and was initially spotted by a private pilot, said Weaver. The fire near Chase destroyed no structures, he said.
In addition, Forestry crews responded to three new, small fires in the Susitna Valley on Wednesday night that were quickly suppressed, Weaver said.
So far nobody has been reported injured in any of the fires.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a red flag warning for the entire Susitna Valley because of low humidity and gusty winds that were expected to blow from the north until evening, Weaver said. Crews, especially the smoke jumpers, and equipment were standing by.
“This is a time of high fire danger, and we want to have all our initial attack forces (ready),” he said. “Smoke jumpers are often the first ones to get to a fire and keep it small.”