Fire chief says crews took precautions to avoid health hazard of smoke from burning, smoldering piles of junk
The state Forestry Division declared a wildfire just south of Eielson Air Force Base fully contained Thursday. And an investigator has begun looking into the cause of the Piledriver Slough Fire.
The Forestry Division says the wildfire began as a structure fire that spread onto the surrounding property, located just east of the Richardson Highway at milepost 334. So Salcha Fire Chief Darrel VanderWeg said his department’s investigator is working with the state Fire Marshal’s Office to figure out how that structure fire began.
“We’re going out there with a fire investigator. And we will have more information on that after we get through with that,” VanderWeg said in an interview Thursday. He said there were three outbuildings on the property, all of which were destroyed.
“They were abandoned structures,” he said.
The chief said Thursday that he and other Salcha Fire personnel were working-over the burned area with heavy equipment to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.
The Forestry Division initially estimated the fire burned about 3 acres, but revised that number to 1.2 acres on Thursday. Black and white spruce and other vegetation fueled the fire, which also burned piles of junk that were strewn around the property.
“There was a lot of trash and gas cans, propane bottles and -- there’s all sorts of stuff in there,” he said. “I mean, I can’t identify most of the stuff that was burning.”
Vanderweg said Thursday no firefighters were injured. But he said they had to work carefully around the wildfire and wait to work on some areas until the junk burned up, to maintain safety. The black smoke created by the burning and smoldering stuff presented another health risk.
“It’s a life-safety thing,” he said. “Some of those chemicals, when they burn, they’ll destroy your lungs in a matter of minutes.”
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed a Temporary Flight Restriction in the area Wednesday afternoon while two state Forestry helicopters were dumping water on the wildfire, burning in an area south of Eielson’s main runway. A base spokesperson said Thursday the fire didn’t disrupt operations.
According to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assessor’s Office, the property is jointly owned by four people, three of whom listed the Salcha address as their residence.
