Clear Fire: Red Flag Warning persists with chances for thunderstorms and lightning

Crews have been working near the edge of the Parks Hwy milepost 275 and near the Nenana River as they worked to contain the Clear Fire, which has been burning for nearly 3 weeks.

A red flag warning continued through Monday, with conditions ripe for a critical fire weather environment. Predictions for numerous showers, thunderstorms and lightning. Currently, the environment remains unstable, and if the skies above clears, it could result in rising temperatures and decreasing humidity. There is an opportunity for wetting rain, and this opportunity increase as the week progresses.

Firefighting officials working at the site of the Clear Fire were unable to say how many structures have been affected by the wildfire, but said there has been damage.

The wildfire, which grew to 65,884 acres overnight, is about 12% contained, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. On Friday, officials from the Denali Borough issued a “go” order to evacuate to properties accessed by roads, trails and driveways on the Parks Highway between mileposts 269 and 275, including residents along Kobe Road and cabins along the Teklanika River within two miles of the fire.

Residents who have chosen to stay in areas defined as “Go” have been encouraged to evacuate as the area is unsafe and rescue attempts may place firefighters’ and citizens’ lives in danger.

The Parks Highway remains open even though reports say that the fire has come within a half-mile of the Parks Highway.

According the Associated Press, an official said it could be a couple of days before fire managers can assess the damage and determine if any structures were lost and it remains uncertain how many homes had been damaged by the fire in the Kobe Ag subdivision.

Residents east of the Nenana River between mileposts 269 and 298, including the cities of Clear Anderson, and Clear Space Force Station, cabins along the Teklanika River between 2-5 miles from the fire perimeter, and all residents west of the Nenana River between mileposts 264-269 remain in the “set” area.

All areas west of the Parks Highway between mileposts 298-301 are in the “ready” area.

The Clear Fire started June 21 when it was 10 miles northwest of Anderson, and the initial size was up to 100 acres. The cause has been identified as lightning. Within days, the fire jumped to over 9,500 acres as crews focused on protecting structures south and southeast of the fire and aircraft dropped water and retardant, and a “super scooper” (fixed-wing aircraft with water hauling capabilities) helped crews with water drops.

As Anderson and Clear communities were advised to prepare for evacuations, red flag warnings-warnings issued when warm temperatures, very low humidity, and strong winds are likely to produce an increased risk of fire danger-continued to be issued during extended predictions of thunderstorms.

Fire managers divided the Clear Fire area into 2 branches: Branch I in the north, and Branch II in the south. This helped with dividing the fire into geographic areas and the distribution of resources throughout the fire area. As firefighters improved line and created more depth in the fire breaks, helicopters supported efforts from above, and aircraft monitored the conditions for changes and continued to drop fire retardant as the weather conditions remained dry.

While some areas of the fire, especially in the south end of the fire, received ½ inch of rain over the weekend, crews continued to build and improve the fire line from the southeast side of Kobe Ag. Helicopters dropped water to assist firefighters and fire crews are placing more water tanks and pumps near the southeast edge of the fire in Kobe Ag.

The Division of Forestry advised that while rain might seem like a major help to firefighters, conditions have been extremely dry across the state and the low rainfalls, current fires may resume burning 1-3 days after the rain ends.

As of July 11, DOF reports that there are 250 active wildfires burning throughout the state, with 15 new fires started on Sunday, burning over 2.6 million acres so far.

Over the weekend the Denali National Park and Reserve discovered a new fire burning within the park. Dubbed the Starr Fire, a press release states it was caused by lightning, was discovered on July 7 burning along the east side of the Muddy River located in the northwestern corner of the North Preserve.

Located approximately 40 miles northwest of Kantishna, it is currently estimated at 60 acres. An edge of the fire crossed the Muddy River and has burned 10 acres on the west side. Initially crews utilized 2 Fire Boss aircraft to work the fire, and a rotor wing today for bucket drops. Eight smoke jumpers are on site working to suppress the fire in order to protect native Allotments that are within a few miles of the fire.

For sheltering or evacuation-related information, contact the Denali Borough at (907) 683-1330, see the Borough’s Facebook page or visit denaliborough.org All other fire information: Clear Fire Information, (907) 290-2921; Alaska Fire Information, (907) 356-5511; akfireinfo.com, and on the Alaska Division of Forestry and BLM Alaska Fire Service Facebook pages.