1.7 million acres burning in Alaska wildfires

Jumper arriving at Kobe Fire
Smokejumper arriving at the Kobe Fire, six miles NE of Mile Post 275 on the Parks Highway in Alaska. Photo by Zoey Taylor.

There are 285 active fires burning in Alaska that have charred 1.7 million acres, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Of those 285 fires, 41 are staffed and the other 244 are being monitored.

The National Interagency Coordination Center reports that the firefighting resources assigned to fires in Alaska include: 106 hand crews, 33 engines, and 29 helicopters.

Alaska top 10 fires
These are the top 10 fires, by size, currently reported by InciWeb in Alaska.

A fun fact — a Bureau of Land Management Type 3 helicopter (H-173BH) recently completed a four-day trip to an assignment in Alaska. It took off from Rifle, Colorado on June 23 and arrived in Fairbanks June 26. The BLM sent other Type 3 helicopters, one each, from Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Two Forest Service Type 2 helicopters were also recently dispatched from the lower 48 states. In addition, a Type 1 CWN helicopter, Croman 701, an S-61, was also sent to Alaska.

Map of Alaska Fires June 29, 2015
Map of Alaska Fires, at 3:56 p.m. MT, June 29, 2015.

 

Whitefish Fire
Whitefish Fire, 8 miles south of Kalskag, June 17, 2015.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

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