Single Publication

Minto Lakes Daily Fire Update July 9, 2022

Acres: 35,367 acres | Containment: 0% | Total personnel: 282

Start Date: June 21, 2022, | Cause: Lightning| Location: Located between Washington Creek and the Chatanika River Fuels: Hardwoods and hardwood litter, timber, black spruce

Highlights: Higher temperatures and lower humidity led to an increase in fire activity yesterday. This is expected to continue through today due to the predicted weather. Thursday night's community meeting recording was posted to Facebook.

The Red Flag Warning has been extended through Sunday for abundant lightning and extremely dry fuels. Crews and equipment remain available for new fire starts.

Please continue to limit unnecessary travel to areas around the fire perimeter where fire personnel are working. This includes the Murphy Dome area down to the MDR Boat Ramp and the Chatanika River. Equipment and fire fighters are working around the Hayes and Himilaya Subdivisions, please use caution in these areas. The fire area remains under a fuels and fire behavior advisory. Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory.

Operations:  Yesterday aviation assets including four Fire Boss aircraft and two helicopters were able to drop water on a couple two to three-acre spot fires on the south side of the Chatanika River. The aviation assets along with the Dalton hotshot crew were able to hold the spots and string hose around the fires, they will continue to search for and extinguish any residual heat. Firefighters protected structures in the path of a fire run near river marker 14 on the north side of the river. The six miles of dozer line, from the Hastings fire of 2011 continues to be re-enforced. Crews have installed approximately seven miles of hose and around 60 pumps for protection measures. Crews will continue to install pumps and remove large diameter fuels from around areas at risk in the communities. The structure protection group to the southeast of the fire have assessed structures and developed plans for protection in the event of any spread south. Crews continue to locate and mop up heat around the Native allotments on the southwestern flank.

Evacuations: For the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Operations evacuation map, scan the QR code or go to https://tinyurl.com/MintoLakes. Follow the FNSB Government Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FNSBGov) for updates and notifications. Receive FNSB Emergency Alerts via text message by texting: FNSBWildFire2022 to 67283.