Fire danger lessens, Chickaloon fire under control

CHICKALOON -- A 60-acre forest fire that burned northeast of Anchorage, close to Chickaloon near the Glenn Highway, was 85 percent contained by Monday morning, with full containment expected by the end of the day, according to a spokeswoman for the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

Fire information officer Sarah Gallup said the fire, which started Friday after the apparent spontaneous combustion of a sawdust pile, posed some difficulty for firefighters, who faced the challenges of steep terrain and dead, dry spruce trees.

According to Gallup, spruce trees cause hazards for firefighters when they burn but don't fall over. The weakened trees are especially dangerous for ground crews, who have to avoid getting hit by hot falling branches and embers.

Gallup said four crews with 16 smoke jumpers were working fighting the fire, including a crew of 20 from the Mat-Su comprised of firefighters from the Palmer Division of Forestry and a special task force, which included several Mat-Su Borough firefighters who were the initial attack squad responding.

The borough sent two fire engines, two tankers and two brush trucks to help extinguish the blaze, said Dennis Brodigan, director of the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services. According to the Alaska Fire Service, mop-up efforts on the fire are going well.

According to the Division of Forestry in Palmer, a burn suspension for the Mat-Su area remained in effect Monday morning. Cooler temperatures and overcast skies are expected to lower the fire danger to moderate, however, and may soon change the status of the burn ban. People may have contained campfires but no open burning was allowed until further notice.

As of Monday morning, no buildings were threatened by the Chickaloon fire, and no injuries had been reported.

For more information on burn permits, call the Mat-Su District office of the Division of Forestry, at 761-6338.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.