Levelock Fire crosses dozer lines

Division of Forestry says that eight smokejumpers were able to secure two sections of the Levelock Fire that jumped the dozer line and moved into the village of Levelock late Monday night.

Most of the village was

though many men remained behind to help fight the fire.

The fire was estimated at 300 acres yesterday; today it has swelled to 5,000 acres due to strong winds of 15-20 mph Monday. Fortunately, they say, no structures have been lost.

Managers say that they are using some of the local heavy equipment to build fuel breaks, especially in the southwest corner of the village.

DOF says that the prolonged hot and dry conditions have made the fire "hard to control and extinguish," but that the relatively thin layer of permafrost and sand-based soil is making it easier to build fire lines.

The fire received light precipitation with more predicted, but smokejumpers are planning a controlled burn operation on Tuesday morning to burn off flammable vegetation around the village.

More firefighters are expected to arrive in the coming days.