Fire officials say a downed power line sparked the fire on Monday. Since then, it’s has damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes and burned about 8 square miles around the eastern Interior Alaska community.

More than 100 firefighters from around the state are working to control the main fire as well as new flareups nearby.

The Mukluk Fire, which was reported shortly before noon on Monday in the backyard of a home on the Alaska Highway, has grown to about 4.5 miles and is still spreading.

A state workplace-safety agency has begun an investigation into an accident that killed two people last week who were working on a septic-system project in Delta Junction.

Two people died Thursday in a construction-site accident in Delta Junction, according to authorities. Alaska State Troopers say 68-year-old Paul Hebert and 71-year-old Jackie Wilder were killed when the 13-foot-deep trench they were working in collapsed. Both victims were residents of Delta.

A motorcyclist died Saturday of injuries sustained in an accident on Geist Road at an intersection near the Parks Highway in Fairbanks, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The deployment comes during an unusually quiet Alaska fire season, allowing crews to head south to help contain the devastating Aspen Acres Fire.

A 25-year-old man has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree assault for shooting a person in Fairbanks on June.

The 550-acre Starry Fire was reported Saturday evening just south of Anderson.

“We are definitely not in the clear, given the forecast that we have,” a state climatologist said.