Single Publication

Size:  172,236 

Personnel:  118 

Start Date: June 8, 2024 

Cause:  Lightning 

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Crews will continue to secure the line in the 5 Mile Creek Area by consolidating and piling up unburned or partially burned vegetation and debris. This process reduces fuel loads and minimizes the potential for fire spread. The piles are then burned in a controlled manner when conditions are safe, helping to secure the fireline. Crews will also continue to grid the area, searching for and extinguishing pockets of heat while mopping up. Crews will look for opportunities to implement fireline in the southernmost part of the 5 Mile Creek Area. A fire module remains on lookout. 

Low temperatures and high relative humidity will continue to keep fire activity minimal. Localized areas of smoke may be seen in areas where black spruce is the primary vegetation component. 

Weather: Cooler than average temperatures will continue. Cloud cover will dominate with spotty showers over the fire area.  

Burn Permits: The Division of Forestry & Fire Protection has lifted the Burn Permit suspensions for Fairbanks, Salcha, Delta, Tok, and Railbelt areas. Small and large scale burn permits are required. Burning is allowed today. The fire danger in these areas is MODERATE. Please check https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn/fireareas or call the burn permit hotline for DOF Fairbanks Area Forestry at (907) 451-2631 for the most current updates. 

Evacuation Notices: A Level 2: SET evacuation notice is in effect for about 20 cabins near the fire’s southeastern edge west of the Tanana River. Communities east of the Tanana River are in READY status, including the Johnson Road neighborhoods, Canaday, Harding Lake, Salcha, the Lower Salcha River, Hollies Acres, and south to Birch Lake. Find more information and an interactive map of these areas on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Emergency Services website. 

Temporary Flight Restriction: The temporary flight restriction (TFR) has been adjusted based on public input to give float plane access to Harding Lake. Be aware helicopter operations to support the fire still continue in the area. Visit tfr.faa.gov for more information. 

-BLM- 

Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service, P.O. Box 35005, 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, AK 99703 

Need public domain imagery to complement news coverage of the BLM Alaska Fire Service in Alaska?  

Visit our Flickr channel! Learn more at www.blm.gov/AlaskaFireService, and on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS) located at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services for over 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation Lands in Alaska. In addition, AFS has other statewide responsibilities that include: interpretation of fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuels management projects; and operating and maintaining advanced communication and computer systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a National Incident Support Cache with a $18.1 million inventory. The Alaska Fire Service provides wildland fire suppression services for America’s “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Military in Alaska.