As the state experienced more than 20 new fires on Monday, wildfires continued to escalate in Alaska, bringing the number of active fires to 214. Thousands of lightning strikes have re-emerged across southern and central Alaska.
Two of the fires that erupted on Monday were at the Delta intersection. State Forest Fire Information Officer Sam Harrell said Gold Hub fires and Gill Creek fires are in full-blown zones near the Pogo Gold mine north of Delta. Both fires were hit by slow and water droplets.
“And most of the effort on the air is just to reassure them until we get the staff to cool them down and do some work,” Harrel said.
Harrel Gold Hub is on fire at Shaw Creek Road, which leads to Pogo Main.
“It will affect my traffic,” he said.
The gold wealth fire on Monday night was estimated at 1,000 hectares.
“It’s expanding fast. The fuel is driving. There’s a lot of black spruce out there, and it’s very good working its way through the black spruce,” said Harrell.
New fires and others in the area, such as the Middle Tanana Complex, are being controlled.
At a time when many fires are burning in the state, many are being monitored in remote areas, he says.
“And then when you start moving to wood, native placements, huts in the woods or at risk – pay close attention and decide where our resources will be used,” he said.
Long-term responses continue to dozens of other fires. The largest operation was in a blaze of more than 50,000-acres west of Anderson, and firefighting force Forbes Owenbe has increased its activity over the past two days.
“Whenever the sky is clear and the smoke rises and the cloud rises or spreads our fire behavior increases which means we have trees that start with torches, the fire starts to spread faster,” he said.
According to Owenbey, one of the most active parts of the fire was the extinguishing of Kobe Ag Road and the west of the space station.
“As you continue to march south on the Tlakanica River, the fire has a large head that goes south. Many movements continue to move south toward Alaska, but they remain on foothills. The exit is not specified,” he said.
According to Owenbe, preventive measures include cutting lines with bulldozers and preparing property in the event of flames.
“They’re going around a lot of structures in Anderson and trying to get rid of some of the fuel, so you put the trees, you put them in a small space, so if the fire goes into it. It doesn’t destroy the houses and all that,” he said.
Ownbey said the fire was expected to be 2 miles west of Anderson and a clear space station since yesterday. He predicts high humidity and a relatively low temperature, so activity is expected to be moderate over the next two days.
Notice of evacuation will apply to some areas around the blaze, but it is unclear how many people have been evacuated by Danny Borough Mayor Clay Walker.
“There are those who are actively preparing their property and creating more defenses and others who have left, and you know, we are not tracking individuals. It is a place where people live there all year round and where people with huts go and go.
Mayor Walker emphasized that no one should be forced to flee, but said that the “Go” area was their responsibility. He said the Nenana and Tri-Valley schools were used as evacuation centers.
“We know that many Alaska Natives have moved out of camp and gone to camp for a while or stay with friends or some people have gone to Ferbank. You know, I think people are hiring other options than staying in school. ”
Walker said the blaze did not appear to affect tourism, as smoke from time to time in the southern part of Denali National Park and the number of visitors increased. He thanked the firefighters for making the fire clear, and although the progress has been made, no structures have been destroyed.