Lake George Fire burns 42 acres near agriculture project; Forestry crews also knock down two smaller fires nearby
Firefighters are nearing containment of the Lake George Fire south of Delta Junction, and they’re also working two new smaller fires that sprung up nearby over the holiday weekend. They may get some help later tonight, when cooler temperatures and a chance of rain are forecast.
The lightning-caused Lake George Fire has burned 42 acres north of the Gerstle River near the Delta Agricultural Project. State Division of Forestry and Fire protection spokesperson Lily Coyle says Forestry dispatched five crews, two helicopters with water buckets and fire engines out of the Delta Forestry station to work the incident.
“There’s fire engines and apparatuses using the Alaska Highway, between Delta Junction and Lake George,” she said, “and on the Richardson Highway north to Big Delta.”
Coyle said Wednesday firefighters had attained 75 percent containment, “and they’re working toward a hundred percent containment, hoping to achieve that in the next couple of days.”
With today’s high temperatures forecast to climb into the upper 70s, and winds gusting to 35 miles per hour, Coyle says wildfire danger is extreme in the Delta region.
“It is a concern, that we’ve actually had a couple of new starts in the same area,” she said.
One of those, the Tower Road Fire, was started by an escaped campfire and burned about a third of an acre before firefighters knocked it down. The other new start, the Liscum Slough Fire, burned about a half-acre before it was contained.
“The area is experiencing hotter, drier temperatures today,” Coyle said.
Firefighters may soon get a respite from the hot, dry conditions, because the National Weather Service is forecasting a 50-50 chance of rain by Friday night. A Red Flag warning was scheduled to expire tonight, but the National Weather Service extended the warning to 10 p.m. Friday for the Delta, Tok and Salcha areas and elsewhere around the Railbelt.
