The Alaska Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, supports the McKinley Fire suppression mission Aug. 19, 2019, with two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The helicopters dropped more than 100,000 gallons of water during a total of 9.5 flight hours in support of this mission. (U.S. Army National Guard video courtesy of First […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The Alaska National Guard is assisting local and state authorities with response to three fires in Alaska today, including the Shovel Creek Fire near Fairbanks, the lower hillside Anchorage wildfire, and the Montana Creek area fire south of Talkeetna. “Providing emergency response to natural disasters is one of the key […]
Search teams in the U.S. state of California found more bodies Tuesday in areas ravaged by the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history, bringing the overall death toll to 48. Crews are working with cadaver dogs and a rapid DNA analysis system in and around Paradise, a town of 27,000 people where in the […]
ANCHORAGE, July 31, 2018 – More than 90 wildfires are raging around the country. In Northern California, devastating fires are burning across more than 110,000 acres, forcing residents from their homes. The American Red Cross is there, providing shelter and comfort for those affected. Among those providing shelter and hope are nine Red Cross of […]
A new study shows that as those fires scorched a region of boreal forest the size of Maryland, they released half as much carbon back into the atmosphere as all the plants, shrubs and trees in Canada typically store in an entire year. The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, and […]
Evacuees from a number of counties in California have been allowed to return home as fire fighters say they’ve turned a corner in containing blazes that have devastated the state. “Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign. And it’s probably a sign we’ve turned a […]
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 […]
MISSOULA – Climate change is melting glaciers, reducing sea-ice cover and increasing wildlife activity – with some of the most dramatic impacts occurring in the northern high latitudes. New research by University of Montana affiliate scientist Adam Young and UM fire ecology Associate Professor Philip Higuera projects an increased probability of fires occurring in Alaskan […]
In late July, more than 300 wildfires are burning in Alaska. With burned acreage totals one month ahead of the historic 2004 fire season, summer 2015 is again the year of the wildfire. Many scientists are not surprised. In papers written a few years ago, Alaska researchers and others suggested smoky years like this one […]