Single Publication

Minto Lakes Daily Fire Update July 11, 2022

Acres: 37,523 acres | Containment: 0% | Total personnel: 309

Start Date: June 21, 2022, | Cause: Lightning| Location: Located between Washington Creek and the Chatanika River Fuels: Hardwoods and hardwood litter, timber, black spruce

Highlights: Yesterday, precipitation was received across the entire fire area. Rainfall amounts ranged from 0.16” to 0.34” recorded at weather stations near the incident. Fire activity has diminished overall as a result though there is still heat present around the fire in dry deep duff and heavier fuels.

There will be a Minto Lakes Fire Public Meeting tomorrow night (7/12/2022) at 7pm at the Ken Kunkel Community Center 2645 Goldstream Rd., Fairbanks AK 99709.

The Red Flag Warning has been extended through today for abundant lightning and extremely dry fuels. Crews and equipment remain available for new fire starts. Thunderstorm activity is expected to remain high.

Please continue to limit unnecessary travel to areas around the fire perimeter where fire personnel are working. This includes the Murphy Dome area down to the MDR Boat Ramp and the Chatanika River. Equipment and fire fighters are working around the Hayes and Himilaya Subdivisions, please use caution in these areas. The fire area remains under a fuels and fire behavior advisory. Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory.

Operations:  Yesterday, aviation assets continued to drop water to protect structures near the Chatanika River. Crews are performing point protection as needed. There is a dozer line in place to protect the communities east of the fire. Crews will continue to install pumps and remove large diameter fuels from around areas at risk in the communities. Along the Chatanika river moving west from the communities of the Himilaya/Hayes Creek firefighters continue to assess needs to continue placing protection measures along the river. The structure protection group in the Murphy Dome area (Lincoln, Vancouver, Murphy, Martin etc.) southeast of the fire have assessed structures and developed plans for protection in the event of any spread south. Crews continue to locate and mop up heat around the Native allotments on the southwestern flank. A Resource Advisor has been assigned to the incident and will lead the effort to identify and protect values that could be impacted by the fire.

Evacuations: For the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Operations evacuation map, scan the QR code or go to https://tinyurl.com/MintoLakes. Follow the FNSB Government Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FNSBGov) for updates and notifications. Receive FNSB Emergency Alerts via text message by texting: FNSBWildFire2022 to 67283.