A wildfire near the Northwest Arctic village of Ambler had calmed down between Thursday and Friday afternoon, according to city mayor Kristy Walton.
“It is getting better as the wind is shifting, but we still continue to smell our local dump fire,” Walton said.
The fire started Thursday afternoon in the Ambler village landfill and, at one point in the day, was less than a mile from the village, Walton said.
The fire burned around 500 acres and was 10% contained by Friday, according to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, but the agency said winds were pushing it toward the Kobuk River rather than the village. There was no evacuation order, but the Northwest Arctic Borough encouraged Ambler residents to be ready for changing conditions.
Twenty-four Fire Service smokejumpers arrived on Thursday to help local and regional firefighters and volunteers. Fire Service was also dropping water and fire retardant from aircraft, primarily on the fire’s eastern flank, closest to the village.
Walton said crews had cut trees between the fire and the local fuel tank farm. Local officials were distributing water to residents, she said.
Ambler went through a series of fires on the other side of the Kobuk River last year, said Fire service spokeswoman Beth Ipsen.
“This fire is a lot closer to the community, a lot more worrisome, and we're bringing people in to protect the community and to suppress the fire and to suppress the fire,” she said.
Ipsen said the agency was sending more people and equipment to the area on Friday and into the weekend.
Walton said that if the smoke gets any thicker, local officials plan to start evacuating residents with health issues.
More wind is in the forecast this weekend, as well as cooler temperatures and a chance of rain.
