Burn ban in effect

MAT-SU — Not to ruin your picnic, but this Fourth of July weekend might be a good time to hope for rain.

The state’s Division of Forestry today issued a temporary burn ban for the Valley, applying to all burn permits and including burn barrels. They urge caution when starting campfires this weekend.

Fire danger is high in the Valley and surrounding areas, as evidenced by a wildfire in Anchorage that scorched 10 acres Wednesday, drawing responders from Palmer Forestry to help douse the flames.

Some of those resources are still tied up down there.

“We’re at high fire danger right now and when we start getting rain it’s going to go down quick,” said Glen Holt, forestry spokesman.

It looks like rain is coming but, then again, it might not. And, if the level of water in the creeks is any indication, the Valley is parched.

The Fourth of July presents its own set of problems for Forestry. Not only are more folks out starting campfires and blasting off fireworks, but there’s more people clogging the roads, making it difficult for Forestry to get to fires.

“It’s problematic,” Holt said and having water-dropping helicopter like the one stationed in Palmer is, in those situations, crucial.

About this time of year is when things start winding down for Forestry. Holt said that the Gannett Glacier fire crew is in the Lower-48 working on wildfires there. Statewide, 66 Forestry personnel are in the Lower-48. Six of those came from the Mat-Su. That’s usually what happens when Alaska’s fire season ends.

But with the indices climbing, he said, the decision has been to hold on to whatever resources Palmer has at least until after the weekend.

The Pioneer Peak hot-shot crew, for example, is coming down this week from a fire in Venetie.

“We’re going to hold on to them for awhile,” Holt said.

It’s been a strange fire season with little rain to speak of but few large fires. While the Valley leads the states in number of fires started, with 86, the acreage burned is relatively low.

Which is good, Holt said, as it means crews, “have been able to catch them and keep them small and put them out.”

Of course the fires' origins are a cause of concern on weekends like this.

“We don’t get lightning fires here very often,” Holt said. “We really get fires more than anything else that are human caused,” be it from an escaped debris fire or a fire spread from a burn barrel, or, maybe, a campfire or recreational fireworks.