The Funny River Fire on the Kenai Peninsula continued to grow on Sunday, now covering over 240 square miles on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. In response to the fire’s rapid growth near populated areas, the order  went out during the late afternoon to begin evacuating areas threatened by the massive blaze. 

The campground at Lower Skilak Lake was evacuated and the area on Funny River Road got the evacuation order as well as Alaska State Troopers alerted residents there. Other areas, such as the Kenai Keys/ Feuding Road and Kasilof, on the Sterling Highway from mile 103 to the Kasilof River were given the “Get Ready,” signal to prepare to leave the area and to seek shelter at another location.

The evacuation was mandatory for at least a thousand structures. 

The Red Cross has opened up a temporary shelter at the Redoubt Elementary School, and has asked evacuees to bring food, extra clothing, bedding such as pillows and blankets, and any other special items for children as well as any prescription medication that they currently need.

By late evening few, if any had taken advantage of the shelter however.

Personnel working with the Funny River Fire now number 589, so far there have not been any reports of injuries sustained in the fight to put out the ever-growing blaze.

The Alaska Air National Guard activated on Saturday and joined the fire-fighting efforts on the peninsula, bringing in two UH-60L Pavehawk helicopters with water bucket qualified crews as well as ground and operation support personnel. They came in at the request of the Alaska Division of Forestry and the State Emergency Operations Center. The two helicopters and the crews are operating out of the Soldotna Airport. They join the CL-415 and five additional helicopters already working to douse the spreading flames.

With winds out of the south, the fire jumped the Kenai River as well today.

Alaska’s governor, Sean Parnell flew over the fire area today, he also was briefed about the situation at incident command post. During his time on the peninsula, he met with residents as well as local, state and federal officials. In a brief statement after his visit, Parnell said, “I appreciate all of the agencies – local, state, and federal – who are working tirelessly to protect life and property,” Governor Parnell said. “I thank Kenai residents for helping their neighbors and heeding evacuation orders. I have directed all State assets to be deployed to help contain the fire.”

Firefighters continue to work in very dry conditions and winds from the south. The dry conditions are expected to continue until at least tomorrow night. There is a slight chance of rain by Monday night and throughout the week.

  air National Guard, Alaska, evacuations, funny river fire, red cross, spreading, troopers