Fire fighting resources were stretched over the weekend as dozens of new wildfires were sparked by lightning across the interior. Alaska Division of Forestry spokesman Tim Mowry said thunderstorm activity resulted in starts from the Brooks Range to the Alaska Range.
“Saturday, Sunday we had 20,000 lightning strikes, roughly, and 60 new fire starts, or reports. And it sort of went from west to east right across the middle of the state.”
Mowry said numerous fires drew responses, including in the Fairbanks area.
“It was like musical fires,” Mowry said. “We were sending initial attack on one fire. We’d get some resources on that and then we’d have to go check out another fire.”
Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service spokeswoman Beth Ipsen sayid the frenetic pace continued late into Sunday night, but the thunderstorms also brought rain to many areas, giving state and federal response agencies a chance to regroup Monday.
“Kind of getting an idea of which areas are receiving precipitation,” Ipsen said. “Which areas are forecasted to get some rain and then go from there.”
A number of the new fires reported over the weekend are burning in limited protection areas and not being fought.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
