Valley fire updates for the evening of 8/20

Official McKinley Fire Update

Official Deshka Landing Fire Update

As of Tuesday, both the McKinley and Deshka have grown, but that growth has slowed significantly due to calmer winds.

Much like Monday, both fires have reportedly shown “creeping” behavior, meaning they stay low to the ground and move slowly, mostly burning underbrush.

This reprieve from the weather has allowed the State Fire Marhsal’s Office and Mat-Su Borough to begin assessing damage from the McKinley Fire. That assessment is expected to take multiple days.  Until then, the evacuation order remains in effect. Multiple crews are arriving and on the way to assist with more aggressive firefighting tactics in the coming days.  The McKinley Fire is currently 4,349 acres.

On Tuesday afternoon, members of the incident command team held a community meeting in Willow, that was live streamed by the Division of Forestry on Facebook. 

Part of that briefing focused on the weather.  The team is expecting the light winds to continue through Thursday.  On Friday, winds are expected to shift to the north and northeast, again, but they are not expected to be as strong as last weekend’s gusts, which are abnormal for this time of year.  Current conditions mean smoky conditions, especially in the evening will continue.

The Deshka Landing Fire’s new Incident Command Team arrived on Tuesday, and will take command of that fire tomorrow.  The latest update shows growth on that fire has also slowed.  The current estimate is just over 2,200 acres.  Firefighters battling Deshka Landing are focusing on keeping the fire from crossing Long Lake Road.  In addition, smokejumpers and a few remaining residents are working to protect cabins on Red Shirt Lake.

Both fires are zero-percent contained.