A new fire is burning a little further north and west of the Moose Mountain fire of last week right on the Chatanika River. Just like with the previous fire the forest service is fiercely fighting to keep homes in the area safe. These people are amazing.
Kate and I saw a fire burning near the same location just last night, but not in either of the two places we saw fires today (there were two fires visible, but one was far in the distance and probably not much of a threat). The closest one was big with a large area looking like it had already burnt everything that it could.
The Newsminer is reporting that although the vegetation in the area is less flammable, it’s not accessible to the bulldozers to create a fire breaks. From our vantage point northwest of Murphy Dome it looked like an all-out aerial assault. Helicopters were dropping water every time I looked into the viewfinder. They must have just been pulling water out of the river. The ducks were out too dropping massive amounts of water on and ahead of the fire.
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Update from the Newsminer 5/31:
Hastings Fire grows, destroys cabin; new fires reported off CHSR: “FAIRBANKS – Three wildfires were burning in the Fairbanks area Tuesday, the latest in a string that have sprung up as the Interior continues to bake under high temperatures.
The Hastings Fire, bu…”
