At a little more than one acre in size, the Susitna fire that started Sunday is contained as of Wednesday morning. Lightning sparked three fires in the Upper Valley on Sunday. The Susitna fire is the only one that burned multiple days.
Located about four miles west of Willow Airport and just east of the Susitna River, the burn area is in a fairly remote spot accessible by boat.
The Chugachmiut (CHOO-gatch-myut) Denali Suppression Module, a crew of 10 firefighters, worked through Tuesday to clear fuels from the burn area.
Half the crew stayed overnight Tuesday. As of Wednesday morning, they found no hot spots after multiple grid-searches and cold-trailing. Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection Information Officer Sam Harrel says the crews do this to be sure they don’t miss anything that might ignite again later.
The crew will continue clearing out the spruce for mop-up operations.
