Incidents All News

California Interagency Incident Management Team 14 will transition management of the Dalton Highway Complex to the BLM Alaska Fire Service at 11 p.m. today, July 27. This will be the final daily update on the Dalton Highway Complex unless significant fire activity occurs.

Overall containment of the Dalton Highway Complex increased to 57%, with the Idaho Bar Fire (#555) now fully contained. Fire activity did not increase during three days of warm, dry weather. The weather will be changing back to a cool, wet regime Tuesday and persist through the week; fire behavior is expected to be minimal or nonexistent on the several fires that have been generating scattered and isolated amounts of smoke recently.

Firefighters on the Idaho Bar Fire (#555) finished mopping up the two interior hotspots as well as 200-feet in from the fire perimeter. Crews are continuing to return of excess equipment and supplies from the fireline and the village of Rampart to the supply cache in Fairbanks.

Firefighters on the Idaho Bar Fire (#555), east of Rampart, anticipate they will complete the time-consuming mop-up process Sunday. They did a thorough search for hotspots, starting along the fire’s perimeter and working into the burned area approximately 200 feet, and found only two. Crews are also coordinating the return of excess equipment and supplies from the fireline and the village of Rampart to the supply cache in Fairbanks.

A brief warming trend begins Saturday as ridging builds over the Yukon Territory and along the Alaskan Canadian border. Relative humidity will decrease to the upper 30s, while temperatures will increase into the 70s. Firefighters will remain on alert and closely monitor the fire areas during this increased warming and drying period. Firefighters working on the Idaho Bar Fire (#555) are mopping up hotspots. The Idaho Bar Fire (#555) is a full-suppression fire.

The 17 fires burning in the Dalton Highway Complex have been declared 40% contained. There were measurable amounts of precipitation that fell over the complex yesterday. This weather pattern will be in place for the remainder of the week. Fire crews welcome the wetter weather but are cognizant of the terrain and understand that approximately 5 inches of precipitation is needed to substantially penetrate the duff and extinguish lingering heat.

Approximately 2 to 2.5 inches of rain fell on all the 17 fires in the complex over the past four to five days. While fire activity has diminished, more than 5 inches of rain is typically needed to adequately penetrate the deeper duff layer to have a lasting effect on fire behavior. With this knowledge, firefighters are maintaining a state of readiness despite the reduction in fire behavior in the past several days due to the wet weather. Firefighters have placed containment lines around the Idaho Bar Fire (#555) and continue to mop up hot spots in the northeast corner.

Warmer temperatures are expected today across the Interior, with shower activity becoming more minimal. While all fires have received precipitation for several days, fire history in Alaska has shown that the duff layer creates a unique fuel where wildfire can burn deep beneath the surface and smolder for days and even weeks, reigniting fuels at the surface when weather conditions become favorable. With this knowledge, firefighters are maintaining in a state of readiness despite the reduction in fire behavior in the past several days due to the wet weather.

The ongoing cooler temperatures and precipitation continued to help all fires on the Dalton Highway Complex on Monday. The MM 125 Fire (#441) showed minimal fire behavior; crews continue work on hotspots on the southern perimeter to keep it east of Dalton Highway. Crews continued suppression efforts on the Idaho Bar Fire (#555).

Cooler temperatures coupled with precipitation continued to moderate fire activity on all fires in the Dalton Highway Complex on Sunday. The MM 125 Fire (#441) showed minimal fire behavior; crews worked on hotspots on the southern perimeter to keep it east of Dalton Highway. Crews continued suppression efforts on the Idaho Bar Fire (#555).