First Wildfires of 2020 Discovered in Denali

In a press release Tuesday, Denali National Park and Preserve reported that two wildfires were discovered in the park on June 1st. A logistics aircraft from the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service discovered a wildfire approximately 23 miles north of Kantishna, near the confluence of Moose Creek and the Bearpaw River. The fire was identified from the air as covering 5 to 10 acres and burning in a spruce island on the tundra flats. Approximately 75% of the spruce island had burned. The detector did not observe tundra actively burning. The National Park Service was planning to fly two firefighters to the site to assess potential threats to a cabin in the vicinity when weather conditions allowed.

Earlier Monday, a park service wildlife technician working near Wonder Lake reported smoke south of the McKinley River near the confluence of the Clearwater and McKinley Rivers. The park service dispatched a helicopter for an initial assessment, but they were unable to find the smoke due to light precipitation throughout the day.