Fires near Eagle and Steese Highway reignite as warm weather returns – Alaska wildfire information
After days of rain, the warm weather has increased fire activity on the Sinnott Fire (#382) north of Eagle and the American Fire (#262) along Preacher Creek, 12 miles north of the 77-mile Steese Highway. The latter produces smoke that is visible to motorists and pilots in the area.
The 4,457-acre American Fire, previously dormant, likely continued to smolder under the white spruce trees in the Preacher Creek watershed. As temperatures returned to hot, dry and windy conditions on Tuesday, it roared back to life, producing a distinct column of smoke visible from Steese Highway. This fire is in a remote area and poses no threat to infrastructure.
Meanwhile, scattered rain has dampened the 1,000-acre Sinnott Fire, but that fire is also showing increasing activity as a northwestern finger burns the Sinnott Creek drainage basin. This area is also very remote.
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A northwest finger of the Sinnott Fire is burning the Sinnott Creek watershed. This area is also very remote. Photo by Cammy Roy, BLM AFS (August 6, 2024) -
Scattered rain showers had dampened the 1,000-acre #SinnottFire, but that fire has also grown again as a northwestern finger burns the Sinnott Creek drainage basin. This area is also very remote. Photo by Cammy Roy, BLM AFS (August 6, 2024)
The recent fire activity is likely to be short-lived; cooler, wetter weather is expected from Friday onwards.
BLM Alaska Fire Service fire managers will continue to monitor these fires until a weather event occurs that ends the fire season.
Contact Beth Ipsen, BLM Alaska Fire Service Public Affairs Specialist, at 907-356-5510 or [email protected] for more information.
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Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, PO Box 35005 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703
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The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS), headquartered in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland firefighting services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities including: interpretation of fire protection policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuel management projects; and operation and maintenance of advanced communications and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $23 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland firefighting services for America’s “last frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.
Categories: Active Wildfires, AK Fire Info, BLM Alaska Fire Service
