Hot, dry weather on the north side of the Alaska Range provided for Red-Flag-Warning conditions over the weekend. A wildland fire was reported in Healy on Sunday. Both the Department of Forestry and volunteer fire departments responded to the fire. Denali National Park provided helicopter support as forestry aerial resources dropped water on the growing fire. A bulldozer worked at a fire line around the perimeter.
The fire threatened several structures including the Mountain View grocery and the home of its owner. There was some structural damage, but no homes were lost in the fire.
The fire had flames so high it reportedly looked like the entire town was on fire. Firefighters from McKinley Village and Panguingue Creek Homeowners responded, as well as water trucks from Usibelli Coal Mine. Princess Tours, Golden Valley Electric and local homeowners all responded to help with the fire.
Robert Schmoll, fire manager in Fairbanks with the Division of Forestry, says the fire has been held to just 10 acres but the fire is burning deep and is creating suppression difficulties. He says there are about 25 personnel on the fire as of Monday morning and the fire is in the mop up phase and still smoldering.
Schmoll says start of the fire is not known and the investigation is continuing. He cautions people who have automatically assumed that the fire was human caused and says the DOF has not made a determination.
Both the Healy area and Fairbanks saw record high temperatures on Sunday. The official temperature in Fairbanks was 91 and the un-official recorded temperature in Healy was 85, according to residents.
