Fires in Interior Alaska 2009

[fogtender]

Interior Alaska Fires
During the last month or more, there has been a lot of fires burning in Interior Alaska where I live. I got home a few days ago, and although the rain over the last few days has knocked the smoke and fire down, they are far from out there is smoke plumes all around the edge of the area which covered almost half a million acres. In some places, the fires were getting started all over, but this morning it was raining again an may have stopped them again.

Yesterday I jumped into the plane and flew up to the cabin and the Kantishna River District to see what burnt where. The fire service saved all the cabins by doing back burns around them, so it looks like the fires burnt up the the door and went away, when that is where it started by the fire service for a back burn and burnt out from them.

Only access to this area is by plane or in the winter by snow machine or a ski plane so it was a daunting job by the Fire Service Personnel.

 

[fogtender]

Some more of the fire burn area. Some of the embers are starting to burn again and where the ground was burnt to a crisp...

 

[Bobcat]

Glad to see your cabin survived.

 

[fogtender]

Glad to see your cabin survived.

Lot of moose still in the area though, and with all the burn, in about four years there will be a lot more....

 

[muleman]

It always looks terrible for the first year or 2 and then the regrowth starts getting some size and really takes off. The burnt tree trunks will be around for a long time.

 

[fogtender]

It always looks terrible for the first year or 2 and then the regrowth starts getting some size and really takes off. The burnt tree trunks will be around for a long time.

Pretty much happen about three years ago accross the highway, burned about three hundred thousand Acres and now we are starting to get moose all over the place again. This one is to the west about six miles or so from the house, but was over half a million acres on that burn.