Deshka Landing Fire Update: Fire at 10% containment

The Alaska Division of Forestry says the Deshka Landing Fire near Willow has not grown significantly in the last 48 hours and no structures or private land have been involved. The fire size remains estimated at 2,217 acres and the fire is 10 percent contained as of Thursday morning.

A community meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Willow Elementary School. Personnel from the incident management team will be on hand to provide an update on the fire and answer questions from the public.

About 150 firefighters and support personnel are actively engaged in various tasks to limit the fire’s spread using direct tactics assisted by water and retardant aircraft.

DOF says one of the issues facing firefighters is the danger from falling trees in the forested areas. With the extremely dry conditions, the fire is moving into the root systems of both live and dead trees and trees are falling over. Certified fallers are cutting trees before fire lines can actively be built in some areas.