Fairbanks, AK – Currently 60 fires are active in Alaska. Thirteen of the fires are staffed and the rest are in monitor status.
Over the past few days the rise in smoke and particle pollution levels in the Fairbanks area has officials warning of serious respiratory risk in the general population. Everyone should avoid any outdoor exertion; people with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children should remain indoors.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for strong and dry northeast winds through Thursday. Red Flag Warnings are issued for conditions that could lead to the development of large and dangerous fires. Winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour are forecasted for portions of the northern, central, and eastern interior Alaska. Relative humidities may be as low as 15 to 35-percent until Thursday.
In the Boundary Fire, late last evening fire officials asked residents of about a dozen homes to leave due to approaching flames.
As of midnight, no structures were reported burned in this rapid fire expansion. Residents who left their homes gathered temporarily at the Chatanika Lodge. The Red Cross has set up a shelter and other services at West Valley High School in Fairbanks, located at 3800 Geist Road, for people displaced from their homes. Nearly 70 sled dogs were also evacuated.
Smoke in the area has made fire mapping difficult. Earlier yesterday, the fire's edges were several miles back from Steese Highway but spread farther west than expected under the Red Flag conditions. The strong northeast winds moved the fire into the residences in the Chatanika River corridor on both sides of the road.
The Alaska Interagency Fire Information Center in Fairbanks is open 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Midnight when conditions warrant), seven days a week. For questions about fires in Alaska, call (907) 356-5511.
Also check the web at: http://fire.ak.blm.gov/news/news.htm
For health alerts: http://www.epa.gov/airnow/topstory.html