Little heat found in Clear Fire; no evacuation notices still in effect
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - There are no longer any evacuation notices for residents living near the Clear Fire, according to the Denali Borough evacuation map.
Firefighters located very little heat in the Clear Fire using infrared detection on Wednesday, according to a release from Alaska Wildland Fire Information. The Clear Fire was started by lightning on June 21 and has burned 72,157 acres. The fire is 61% contained according to the most recent update from Incident Commander Mark Goeller with the Northern Rockies Team 1. There are 517 personnel working the Clear Fire.
“Fire managers reviewed the imagery and confirmed suppression efforts are continuing to effectively prevent perimeter fire growth, even with the windy conditions and lower humidities the last 24 hours,” Thursday’s Alaska Fire Service post said. “Firefighters are reinforcing point protection around homes along the north and east fire perimeter as they patrol and mop up any hotspots that surface.”
Evacuation notices had been in effect for nearly three weeks, raising residents in the Kobe Ag subdivision to the “go” threshold. During the fire, the Denali Borough stated that one full-time home, seven cabins, and other outbuildings were lost to the fire.
The Fire Service wrote that efforts are continuing to attempt to minimize impacts on structures, but the staffing in many areas has been adjusted to assist with mop-up, suppression repair, and transferrable of equipment away from fire lines.
Firefighters did find some heat near the Teklanika River, and a crew was deployed nearby in order to cut a fuel break, the release said. Helicopters and boats are helping with logistical needs on the north end, moving firefighters, and removing supplies.
The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Wildland Fire Dashboard shows that zero new fires have been started on Thursday, but 257 are active statewide and five are currently staffed. Over 3 million acres have burned this summer across Alaska for the first time since 2015. The Fire Service reported that the most acres that have burned in a single Alaskan wildfire season was in 2004 at 6.5 million acres.
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