Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration for the Denali Borough Thursday after the Bear Creek Fire destroyed homes and hampered transportation in the area.
Wildfires have been burning across the Interior since late last week. The Bear Creek Fire north of Healy has burned 26,000 acres, destroying some homes and forcing residents to evacuate.
The disaster declaration will support the borough’s response to the fire and open up state relief funds for displaced residents, according to the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Bear Creek Fire
Evacuations for the Bear Creek fire remained in place and unchanged on Friday, with a shelter located at Tri-Valley School in Healy. Denali Borough Mayor Chris Noel said the fire had forced at least 75 people to evacuate.
Borough officials say they are still assessing the damage, but the fire destroyed at least 17 structures, six of them residential.
Noel also said a damaged fiber optic line was causing cell service interruptions.
The fire also caused power outages in the area. At least 24 homes were still without power on Thursday, according to the Golden Valley Electric Association.
About 225 firefighters and support personnel were still working the Bear Creek and other nearby fires, said Rita Henderson, spokeswoman with the Alaska Incident Management Team, which includes federal, state, local and tribal entities.
Henderson said the firefighters had put in a dozer line to keep the fire from going further north. She said firefighters were also working to protect homes and roads near the Bear Creek Fire as well as several other fires north of Healy.
Henderson said helicopters were dropping buckets on hot spots along the Parks Highway, and pilot cars might continue escorting drivers through the area for another week or longer.
“The public should be ready for wait times along the Parks Highway going north and south, but they're doing their best to keep that moving,” she said.
Fairbanks fires
Fires north of Fairbanks, totaling around 6,530 acres, have not been contained and continued to grow as of Friday.
No structures have been damaged in those fires so far, said Jessica Ferracane, the spokeswoman for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
Ferracane said the responders continued to focus on the Himalaya Road Fire, surveying the terrain from above and installing sprinklers around residences and other structures.
“This one is very close to homes,” she said.
Fairbanks North Star Borough officials lowered evacuation levels around Himalaya Road and Aggie Creek on Thursday, allowing residents to return home.
Ferracane said firefighters would continue using heavy equipment along the Elliot Highway and other roads in the area.
“People should expect delays and possibly poor visibility due to smoke and also fire crews working alongside those roads,” she said.
Fire crews were also working on fires near Salcha, Tok and Delta Junction, as well as ones close to Rampart, Nelchina Glacier and Clear.
Drier weather and thunderstorms in the forecast
The Interior started seeing warmer and dryer weather on Friday after a few days of cooler, wetter weather. The forecast showed warmer temperatures and light winds going forward, as well as potential for thunderstorms and lightning.
Fire managers warn that existing fires could grow and there could be new flareups.
“We're coming back into sunny and warm days, and fires across the interior region are becoming more active,” said Sam Harrel, an information officer with the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection.
