Visitors and locals wait for hours in traffic during early days of the McKinley Fire

When the Parks Highway closed temporarily due to the McKinley Wildfire on Sunday, the amount of travelers utilizing this main road system that connects Anchorage to Fairbanks becomes obvious when the road clogs. While the black plume of smoke of the McKinley Fire was gaining intensity early Sunday evening, travelers surprisingly continued to to point their cars in that direction in hopes of getting thru. Those on the road include locals trying to get to their homes, out of state travelers, as well an Alaskans trying to get home after a weekend of gathering berries.  

KTNA’s Katie Writer spoke with travelers and locals on how they helped to pass the time with so many unknowns. 

When the traffic on the Parks Highway comes to a standstill and the line of traffic stretches as far as the eye can see, people have different ways of passing the time. Some prefer staying in their cars with the windows rolled up, while others get out to stretch their legs or walk their dogs. One thing for certain is that everyone was looking for information on the status of the fires and when the highway would open again. 

One group of ladies had been berry picking. 

While Gabe Krompacky of Talkeetna was not far from his home, he chose to practice tuning his musical instrument, the Obo while waiting. 

A surprising amount of travelers were on their way to Anchorage International to catch a flight. Corey from Tacoma, Washington says, that he was hoping to not miss his flight, but he felt badly for those directly impacted by the fires. Corey says, 

On Monday morning, downtown Talkeetna was eerily quiet, especially with schools cancelled due to the McKinley Fire.Conscious Coffee was a good gathering place for community members to talk about their concerns and how to be prepared in the event of becoming evacuated.  Su Valley High School Math and Science teacher, Ed O’Connor came to town out of restlessness and was very concerned for the community, many of which could be families of his students.

Meanwhile, firefighters, first responders and pilots are working overtime to not only harness the energy of the fire, but to save as many homes and structures as possible while keeping themselves out of harms way of the flames.