The Big Su fire rages early Thursday morning, as seen from Mile 84 of the Parks Highway. Photo courtesy of Christian Hartley
Flames from the Caribou Hills fire burn beneath a Homer Electric Association transmission line Thursday, June 21, 2007, east of Ninilchik, Alaska. The company has removed power from the line until damage can be assessed. Photo by M. Scott Moon / The Associated Press
Fires spreading in Southcentral
THREE SITES: Multiple blazes stretch firefighting capacity.
By BRANDON LOOMIS
bloomis@adn.com
Published: June 22, 2007 Last Modified: June 22, 2007 at 09:23 AM
Wildfires ravaged thousands of acres in Southcentral Alaska while numerous lightning strikes threatened to open new fronts Thursday, and state fire managers issued a national call for help.
The Big Su fire near Trapper Lake grew to more than 5,500 acres west of the Susitna River and destroyed at least one structure among the remote area's cabins and homes, officials said. Two other homes were in imminent danger at 10 p.m. and another 40 were at risk.
Meanwhile on the Kenai Peninsula, the Caribou Hills fire exploded to 20,000 acres Thursday night, and firefighters asked people to evacuate homes and recreational cabins in two areas, including about 300 structures in the Ninilchik 40 subdivision, an area more than 10 miles inland from the village itself.
The Caribou Hills fire, which almost doubled in size between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., was still about 14 miles inland from Ninilchik itself, a spokeswoman said.
A third fire, at the confluence of the Yentna River and Lake Creek, diverted some firefighters but was holding at 50 acres, state Division of Forestry spokesman Matt Weaver said.
At Trapper Lake, dozens of structures were threatened by the Big Su blaze and firefighters had to shuttle into the roadless area by helicopter. The Copper River and Yukon crews converged on the fire with about 40 firefighters. About 125 firefighters were toiling in the Caribou Hills.
The Red Cross opened a shelter at Willow Community Center on Thursday afternoon and one at the Ninilchik Senior Center Thursday night.
*SNIP*
He used his homemade dune buggy -- sheet metal on a Chevy Blazer chassis with a Cadillac V-6 engine and fat tires -- to help ferry firefighters and their supplies in and out of the fire lines.
He said the crews were now equipped with tents, after many of them spent the first night along a dirt road in trucks.
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge manager Robin West said ecologically it wouldn't necessarily be bad if the Caribou Hills fire burned northeast into the refuge. The area is dominated by mature black spruce and may be overdue in its natural burn cycle, he said. A fire would sprout birch and aspens, potentially helping moose and other animals.
"The ecosystem is used to it, expects it, needs it," West said.
(Personal note: the envirowacko's will never get it.)