Incident Commander addresses issue of motorists driving through intense wildfire

The Swan Lake Fire has burned over 162,000 acres south of Anchorage

flames fire Sterling Highway
Driving along the Sterling Highway, August 26, 2019.

The Swan Lake Fire, ignited by lightning on June 5, is being managed but not fully suppressed on the Kenai Peninsula 28 air miles south of Anchorage, Alaska. On August 17 it spread south across the Sterling Highway and has now grown to over 162,000 acres.

Map Swan Lake Fire August 30, 2019
Map of the Swan Lake Fire, August 30, 2019. Perimeter provided by the Incident Management Team. Map compiled by Wildfire Today.

The Sterling Highway, Alaska Route 1, is a major thoroughfare that goes south from Anchorage down the Kenai Peninsula to Sterling, Soldotna, and Homer. During the night of August 25 some motorists on the highway found themselves driving past a crowning timber fire that was approaching the highway with what looked like 50 to 75-foot flames that were in some cases very close to the road. Some drivers said traffic alternated between slow rubber-necking and then rapid acceleration where flames were near, adding another variable to the smoke and dodging construction barriers.

Warning — the video below has strong language.

?? Swan Lake ? ?sorry for the F bombs buuut we were ?!! the Peninsula is still burning!! DRIVE SAFELY!!! from r/alaska

Marty Adell Incident Commander Swan Lake FireAfter travelers reported on social media some of their experiences driving past the flames, the Incident Commander of the Swan Lake Fire produced a video to shed some light on the incident. He explained the conditions on the highway were “constantly monitored” for fire and smoke hazards. He said at one point they closed the highway but before they could completely sweep that section some travelers were still in the area with active fire.

McKinley Fire burns 50 structures south of Talkeetna, Alaska

McKinley Fire Alaska Parks highway
A smoke plume from the McKinley Fire burning along the Parks Highway is seen from the highway on Sunday, August 18. Photo by Maureen Clark/Alaska Division of Forestry.

(UPDATED at 8:43 a.m. PDT August 20, 2019)

From the Incident Management Team

Calmer winds Monday helped slow the spread of the McKinley Fire as firefighters continued their efforts to protect buildings and infrastructure.  An evacuation order for the area along the Parks Highway from Mileposts 82 to 91 remains in effect.

The Alaska Type 2 Interagency Incident Management Team assumed management of the fire Monday evening.  The addition of a dozen engines from Fairbanks and two crews from the Lower 48 in the next 24 hours are expected give a good boost to the firefighting effort. With the additional resources, fire managers will be adding a night shift to patrol the subdivisions in the fire area.

The McKinley Fire, which began Saturday near Milepost 91 of the Parks Highway is estimated at 3,012 acres.  Fueled by north winds gusting to 35 miles per hour, it quickly moved south on Sunday, burning along both sides of the Parks Highway corridor for 7 miles. An estimated 50 structures were destroyed by the fire.

The Alaska Department of Public Safety, State Fire Marshal and Alaska State Troopers are working with the Alaska Division of Forestry and Matanuska Susitna Borough to get a better estimate of structures burned and determine how many were residences. The State Fire Marshal’s Office and Alaska State Troopers are working to account for persons in the evacuation area. If you know of persons who may be unaccounted for please contact the Matanuska-Susitna Borough call center at 907-861-8326.

Here is a link to a map showing the fire perimeter and evacuation areas, updated August 19, 2019.


(Originally published at 2:44 p.m PDT August 19, 2019)

The McKinley Fire along the Parks Highway in Alaska burned at least 50 structures Sunday afternoon as firefighters and other emergency responders worked furiously to evacuate and rescue residents threatened by the fire.

The fire is 19 miles south of Talkeetna near Milepost 88 on the highway. (see map below)

Alaska Division of Forestry and Matanuska-Susitna Borough personnel are still working to account for residents who chose not to evacuate their homes or go to an evacuation shelter. Forestry, borough and Red Cross officials are working to determine how many structures were lost but specific details about structures that burned are not currently available.

Driven by strong north winds, the fire jumped from the east side of the Parks Highway to the west side at around 6 p.m. Sunday, prompting immediate evacuations on both sides of the highway from Mileposts 82 to 91.

The Parks Highway was closed at milepost 71.25 on the south and the Upper Susitna Senior Center on Helena Avenue at approximately milepost 98.5 on the north. The highway remained closed as of 11 p.m. There was no timetable for when the road will be reopened at the time of this report.

Map location McKinley Fire Talkeetna Alaska
Map showing the approximate location of the McKinley Fire south of Talkeetna, Alaska at 4:52 a.m. local time August 19, 2019. Map by Wildfire Today.

The latest size estimate on the fire was approximately 1,800 acres as of 10 p.m. Sunday.

Evacuation shelters have been established north and south of the Highway closure. The shelter on the south end is located at the Menard Sports Complex in Wasilla and the shelter on the north end is at the Upper Susitna Senior Center at approximately Mile 98.5.

The fire started Saturday afternoon when the wind blew a tree onto a power line near Milepost 91. The fire grew to about 150 acres overnight and burned up to the highway but remained east of the highway. That changed late Sunday afternoon when strong winds and warm, dry conditions resulted in extreme fire behavior that prevented suppression efforts and forced firefighters to focus their efforts on evacuating residents and protecting structures.

A Type 2 Incident Management Team from Alaska will be assuming command of the McKinley Fire on Tuesday. Two more incident management teams from the Lower 48 are en route to take over management of the Deshka Landing and Swan Lake Fires.

With the increase in wildfire activity in South-central Alaska the past two days, Forestry is also bringing up multiple other resources from the Lower 48 to assist with containment of fires. Ten hotshot crews are traveling to Alaska and should arrive Monday afternoon. Those crews will be split among the three fires listed above. Two large air tankers and four water-scooping aircraft are also en route.

McKinley Fire Alaska Parks highway
A portion of the McKinley Fire, Sunday, August 18, 2019 after the fire burned through the area. Photo by Maureen Clark/Alaska Division of Forestry.

Most of the information above provided by Alaska Division of Forestry.

Wildfires above the Arctic Circle in Greenland and Alaska

Alaska Garnet Creek Fire
The Garnet Creek Fire (#576) as seen from the air on Monday, July 15, 2019, was burning about 12 miles southwest of Rampart, Alaska. The fire was started by lightning. Alaska Fire Service.

Alaska

Wildfire activity is moving north. Of the 26 new fires reported over the past two days in Alaska, ten were above the Arctic Circle. Isolated thunderstorms are expected in the central and eastern interior today, Tuesday, with high temperatures reaching the low 80s in the Yukon Flats area.

Fifteen new fires were reported across Alaska Monday. Twenty-three fires are actively burning in the Tanana Zone today, with a total of 30 fires reported this year.

Greenland

In addition to the fires in Alaska, on July 10 a satellite detected heat signatures in Greenland that were consistent with those seen at wildland fires. And another satellite photographed what appears to be smoke.

Wildfires in Greenland are rare but not unheard of. There were also fires there in 2015 and 2017.

Rain slows spread of 23,000-acre Shovel Creek fire northwest of Fairbanks

South Idaho Hotshots
South Idaho Hotshots on the Chatanika River assigned to the Shovel Creek Fire in Alaska. InciWeb. Click to enlarge.

The Shovel Creek Fire, started by lightning about three weeks ago, has spread to about 20 miles northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. As of July 12 it had burned 23,734 acres and was described as “smoldering” due to recent rain.

The number of personnel assigned dropped yesterday by 118, to bring the total down to 621. That number includes 13 crews, 18 engines, and 7 helicopters. So far $17.8 million has been spent on suppressing the fire.

Crews continued to make progress Friday with mop-up operations on the western and southern fire lines, securing the fire’s edge near Murphy Dome and along portions of the scar from the 2009 Hardluck Fire. Saturday, firefighters will continue mop-up along Old Murphy Dome road and the ridge line north of Perfect Perch to the Chatanika River.

During this break in fire behavior due to the weather, crews have taken the opportunity to scout for fire line opportunities along the Chatanika River north of the fire. As work to secure the northern edge continues, firefighters have kept hose lays, sprinklers, and other equipment in place around the structures along the Chatanika River. Aerial resources will continue to be available to cool hotspots near fire lines, as smoke and fog conditions allow.

Map Shovel Creek Fire July 12, 2019
Map of the Shovel Creek Fire July 12, 2019.

The rain in the area has cleared some of the smoke. With fire activity north and east of Fairbanks, forecasting air quality continues to be a challenge. Fairbanks Memorial Hospital created a 24-hour smoke respite center in the Chandler Room at 1650 Cowles Street, Fairbanks, AK 99701.

Firefighters make progress on the 100,000-acre Swan Lake Fire

The fire is in Alaska south of Anchorage

Firefighters are making progress on the 100,000-acre Swan Lake Fire 50 air miles south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula.

One of their key objectives is now complete — to cut off the southwest side from the Sterling Highway to the muskeg wetland areas on the south and west side of the fire. This is significant because it should keep the fire from moving further west toward Sterling.

Snow Creek Wildland Fire Module from, Bend, OR
Snow Creek Wildland Fire Module from, Bend, OR is assigned on the Swan Lake Fire in Alaska. Click to enlarge. InciWeb photo.

Ahead of the fire, firefighters continue to thin brush and understory vegetation along the Skyline Trail and Fuller Lakes Trail on the east side of the fire perimeter near Cooper Landing. The purpose of this effort is to reduce the chance of the fire spreading east along the highway corridor.

More Hotshot crews depart the lower 48 for Alaska fires

Burnout Hess Fire
Burnout on the Hess Fire in Alaska. InciWeb photo.

Five more hotshot crews are leaving today from Redding to assist with fires in Alaska: Elk Mountain, Modoc, Mad River, Eldorado and American River.

Alaska is in Preparedness Level 5, the maximum on the scale. The state has had more wildfire activity than usual for the last month or so, but record high temperatures last week beefed it up even more. The number of acres burned in the state varies greatly annually. In most years the total acreage burned is between 300,000 and 500,000. In 2013 it was 1.3 million and in 2015, 5.1 million acres burned. So far this year the total is 937,000 acres. The average over the last 10 years is 1.3 million.

Hotshot crews mobilizing Alaska
Hotshot crews mobilizing from Redding to Alaska. USFS photo.

The largest fire currently burning in the state is the 145,000-acre Hess Creek Fire 26 miles southeast of Steven’s Village. The blaze was very active Sunday, adding another 30,000 acres.

The second largest is the 96,000-acre Swan Lake Fire 50 air miles south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula. The activity on this fire has slowed in recent days.

Hotshot crews mobilizing Alaska
Hotshot crews mobilizing from Redding to Alaska. USFS photo.