A 25-acre wildfire along the Knik River is the latest indication that the state’s forest fire season is getting a head start. Norm MacDonald, an fire management officer with the state division of forestry in Palmer, says the fire, reported late Saturday, is about 10 percent contained as of Monday morning.
“It’s human caused. It is still under investigation exactly how, but it is definitely a human caused fire.”
The Leaf Lake fire is inaccessible by road, MacDonald says. Thirteen crewmembers are working on the blaze, and several more firefighters are expected to be deployed to the location later today.
“We reconned the fire with an aircraft, and realized it would not be accessible by land, so we got firefighters in there by air via helitac and smokejumper crews on Sunday morning.”
MacDonald says spring conditions are extremely dry this year, contributing to wildfire danger statewide.
“This is the largest to date, I think we are a number 46 for fires so far for 2016.”
The Leaf Lake fire is burning about a mile from one cabin on the Eastern front, and about five miles from the community of Butte, although no structures are immediately threatened.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
