(Fairbanks, Alaska) – Smokejumpers and aircraft are working on a new fire near Birch Creek 17 miles northwest of Circle in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The Birch Creek Fire (#346) is burning in a limited management option area, which gives the latitude for the fire to function in its natural ecological role […]
(Fairbanks, Alaska) – BLM Alaska Fire Service Smokejumpers responded to two fires in rural Alaska in the last few days, emphasizing dry conditions still exist in some areas despite the wet, cold weather present in other regions. The Richmond Fire (#338) burning 39 miles north of Bettles is suspected of being human-caused. It’s a reminder that […]
Fire crews around the state continue to fight wildfires from the interior to the Kenai Peninsula. McKinley Fire The McKinley Fire near mile 88 of the Parks Highway increased in intensity and has burned at least 50 structures and emergency responders work diligently to evacuate residents in the area from mile 82 to 91 […]
(FAIRBANKS, Alaska) – Four Type 2 Emergency Firefighter crews will mobilize to the Lower 48 on Sunday to help with the busy fire season. The crews with 19 firefighters apiece from Fairbanks and rural villages will board a plane in Fairbanks on Sunday bound for Idaho before being assigned to wildland fires in the area. […]
A mixture of young and veteran Alaska firefighters left BLM Alaska Fire Service facilities at Fort Wainwright Friday morning to help with the busy fire season in the Lower 48. Three emergency firefighter crews from Upper Kalskag, Selawik and Noorvik plus the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanook Fire Crew were handed two sack lunches and boarded […]
ARLINGTON, Va. — With a 5,600-acre wildfire burning in Butte County, California National Guard members are mobilized Monday after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s declaration of an emergency yesterday. As of this morning, nearly 85 National Guard members were involved in firefighting operations in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming, National Guard Bureau officials said. Because California Guard members are in the process […]
FAIRBANKS— Governor Bill Walker today signed legislation to ease the financial burden of families and dependents of peace officers and firefighters who make the ultimate sacrifice. House Bill 23 is the culmination of years of effort by advocates, loved ones, and community members—and provides continued health insurance coverage for the surviving dependents of those killed […]
LONDON — Grief turned to anger as firefighters continued to battle one of London’s biggest fire disasters in recent memory and leaders faced questions about possible fire safety violations. Police say at least 12 people were killed as a rapidly-moving blaze raced through a 24-story apartment building in West London in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday, trapping […]
After escorting an intoxicated woman, identified as 51-year-old Cindy Stratton, of Kodiak, from the driver’s seat of her vehicle, to her home in Bells Flats south of Kodiak, firefighters with the Woman’s Bay Fire Department notified AST and asked them to perform a welfare check on Stratton because of her level of intoxication. When firefighters […]