Single Publication

Size: 72,157 acres                                                                                                Location: 6 miles west of Anderson, Alaska
Completion: 56%                                                                                                Personnel: 485
Start Date: June 21, 2022                                                                                Cause: Natural, Lightning
Fuels: A mix of tundra, brush, hardwood, and black spruce                          

Summary: Northern Rockies Team 1 continues to work toward a comprehensive strategic plan to pass on to the next incident management team and local fire officials. As the access to burned and/or remote areas of the fire increases, collaboration with Denali Borough Emergency Management continues regarding damage assessments. Team members are coordinating with officials from the Clear Space Force Installation. The efforts on the ground are deliberate, methodical, and thorough to ensure incident objectives are being met safely and risk is managed appropriately.

Weather: Cloudy skies with temperatures in the upper-50s today. The best chance of wetting rain is in the early morning, with scattered light rain continuing throughout the day. Winds are out of the south-southwest at 6 mph and the relative humidity will be a minimum of 53 percent. The extended forecast shows continued cloudy and cool conditions through the coming week. Fire behavior continues to be minimal, primarily smoldering.

Operations: In the Kobe Ag, Anderson, and Quota subdivisions on the east side of the fire perimeter, firefighters are patrolling control lines and mopping up around structures. The areas in and around Camp Challenge are also in the mop-up stage. Crews are backhauling excess supplies and coordinating with the incident Resource Advisor regarding suppression repair on private lands. Fire suppression repair is a series of immediate post-fire actions to repair damages and minimize potential soil erosion and impacts resulting from fire suppression activities.

On the southern edge of the fire, firefighters are utilizing engines and heavy equipment including dozers, graders, masticators, Nodwells, and Fat Trucks to access adverse terrain near the homesteads and Native allotments. Crews are utilizing direct and indirect tactics including point/zone protection, which is a wildfire response strategy that protects specific assets or highly valued resources from the fire without directly halting fire spread. Crews are completing access routes to the fire’s edge to facilitate fire suppression actions around structures, and continuing recon on the ground with assistance from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).

On the west flank of the fire, the Teklanika River and surrounding vegetation act as natural barriers to prevent fire from spreading to the west. This area will be assessed for fireline construction needs.

Resources assigned to the north edge of the fire continue patrolling the fire perimeter looking for hot spots and point-protecting structures and timber allotments along the Teklanika River. Firefighters are backhauling hoses and pumps from the fireline and shuttling them to the supply unit utilizing boats and the 10th Street boat launch.

Sheltering & Evacuations: Contact the Denali Borough at (907) 683-1330, visit denaliborough.org or follow www.facebook.com/denali.borough Fire Loss & Suppression Repair: Contact the Denali Borough at (907) 683-1330