Good luck! My kids want to come up & visit in late winter (iditarod!)
The race officially starts in Willow, just north of Anchorage. The ceremonial start is in downtown Anchorage. My wife, sister and sister in law came up this year and they had a blast (I couldn't join them unfortunately). If they want to see the real start, they will have to rent a car.
I do believe the 2006 Iditarod comes through Galena (they take the northern route) so I can watch them go past. Any fire damage at that time will be under 6 feet of snow. :0)
We had our big fire scare (as did many towns in Alaska) last summer, most of the fires this year are well north of here.