Fire season strikes early, hard

MAT-SU -- In one of the earliest and busiest fire seasons local officials can recall, Valley firefighting crews estimate they have responded to more than 100 separate blazes in the past few weeks. Several structures and dozens of acres of land have burned.

Earlier this week Division of Forestry and Central Mat-Su firefighters were looking to weather forecasts of rain or snow to perhaps dampen the otherwise highly combustible dry grass and bushes in the area.

"We're praying for it," said Michael Keenan, battalion chief with Central Mat-Su fire department. Worn down by long hours of hard work, Keenan said the volunteer crews are in need of a break.

"We're trying to rotate people out to get rest," Keenan said. But with the volunteer crews, there isn't the luxury of running 24-hour shifts.

"Basically, when the pager goes off, we respond," Keenan said. "We're making it. We've answered every call we've had. I have been completely impressed with the way our volunteers are handling it."

The string of fires began with the windstorm earlier this month that sparked electrical fires, flamed grass fires and wicked away what little moisture there was in the area. Even after the windstorm died down, however, fires continued to sprout up.

Lynn Wilcock, fire management officer with the Division of Forestry, said all seasonal employees have been called back to the Palmer headquarters as well as most of the on-call Mat-Su crew. In addition, federal smokejumpers were brought in during the recent fire activity. Typically, he said, the regular crews aren't called back for another month or so.

"It's definitely early," Wilcock said. With the recent wind and virtually no snow cover, dry grass and undergrowth have set the stage for many of the fires. At the same time, there has been an unexplained increase in the number of large structure fires. Wilcock said it is not unusual in June for crews to respond to nearly 100 fires, but typically there aren't as many homes and buildings involved.

So far, this spring is proving to be considerably more demanding than most. Even with the additional assistance of the federal Alaska Fire Service crew, Wilcock said forestry crews are also feeling the wear and tear of the long work hours.

"We are definitely starting to see the affects … The wind and cold has taken its toll," he said.

With the dry conditions and frequent fire calls, Division of Forestry crews have joined Central Mat-Su as well as other fire departments such as Palmer, Big Lake and Butte at the many of the fires.

Last weekend began with a structural blaze that claimed half of a house off Bogard Road. Saturday, Keenan said, firefighters were tackling numerous grass fires throughout the Valley.

On Sunday, a three-story home near Four Corners was destroyed by flames after the homeowner dumped some ashes from his woodstove nearby.

"It set the grass on fire, then it set a greenhouse on fire and then his house," Keenan said. Even with an aggressive attack by local fire departments and Division of Forestry, the fire managed to consume the home and burn more than two acres of adjacent land.

Keenan said that fire was unique in that access was restricted to a one-lane bridge that was not built to hold the type of equipment they needed to get to the fire. After the flame was extinguished, Keenan said, firefighters had to bring in a bulldozer to build a bridge to get their equipment out.

The end of the weekend would bring no rest for the local crews. Monday began with a small structural fire off Schrock Road that was quickly contained. But by that afternoon firefighters were responding to another large blaze, this one at the Windbreak Hotel and Caf/ in Wasilla. (See related story Page A1.)

Even as Central Mat-Su, Meadow Lakes and Big Lake firefighters battled the structural fire, Palmer Fire Department continued to respond to other smaller fires in the area, Keenan said.

If these smoke clouds have a silver lining it has been the good working relationship between forestry firefighters and local volunteer crews. Both sides described the cooperative nature of their efforts, and each time they respond, they hone their firefighting and organizational skills.

"We have an excellent working relationship," Keenan said of local fire departments and state crews. "And we're testing our response capability to the max."

Wilcock with the Division of Forestry said often there is overlapping jurisdiction in cases where there is a structural fire as well as adjacent wildland fires. When they first respond to the scene, he said, those in command determine a strategy based on who is available to fight the fire.

"We're getting it down pretty well," Wilcock said. " … we're trying to provide the best fire service to the citizens."