Snowless Valley has fire officials concerned about upcoming season

WASILLA — With little or no snow cover across lower elevations of the Mat-Su, area firefighters are already gearing up for what could be a potentially devastating wildfire season

“The fact that the ground cover is bare right now, it does concern us tremendously,” said Mat-Su Borough fire department deputy director Ken Barkley last week.

To prepare for what could be another long, dry summer, Barkley said crews have already outfitted trucks with wildland firefighting gear like hand tools. That’s typically something that doesn’t happen until later in the spring, but with this winter’s unusually low snowpack, firefighters aren’t taking any chances.

“Firefighters are starting to carry their forestry gear with them, which we would have never done before,” as early as February, he said.

It’s a situation that’s becoming more common. Officials said at least three winters in the past decade have seen similar conditions, including last year. In fact, the recent history of low snow has started forcing emergency officials to re-think how they plan for the earlier fire seasons.

“Unfortunately it’s not that uncommon anymore,” said Division of Forestry fire management officer Norm McDonald.

Last summer’ was a bad one in Alaska and the Mat-Su, with about 5 million acres of scorched land statewide. That included more than 8,000 acres that burned during June's Sockeye Fire, which destroyed more than two dozen homes near Willow.

Managers have already been meeting to plan for the potentially dry conditions ahead. Barkley said he had met with state Division of Forestry officials last week to coordinate planning efforts.

“We’re just trying to gear ourselves up for the season,” he said.

The idea, he said, is to get as prepared as possible in order to try and hold off another devastating blaze.

“We don’t want to have another Sockeye Fire,” he said.

In addition to getting crews outfitted with wildland gear, Barkley said borough officials are also considering moving some training courses up earlier in the season.

McDonald said there’s no doubt the dry, brown grass covering much of the lowland areas of the Mat-Su is a major concern.

“Any time we don’t have snow in February you definitely start thinking about consequences for March and April,” he said.

As is the case with borough firefighters, McDonald said state crews aren’t necessarily doing anything different during their pre-season planning — they’re just having to make those plans sooner with Alaska’s lengthening fire season.

“We’re starting earlier and going later and later,” he said.

There haven’t been any major Mat-Su wildfires so far in 2016, but McDonald said a couple of brush fires have briefly jumped containment and could have potentially spread if conditions were right.

“My message is to treat this February with dry grass like you would in May,” he said.

If people are going to burn brush or debris, Barkley and McDonald agreed it’s crucial for them to exercise proper safety protocols like having water on hand, creating defensible space and monitoring wind conditions.

“Make sure you’re on scene and have water and people to handle things,” McDonald said. “Just use common sense and vigilance.”

And unlike in the summer, when lighting strikes are a concern, he pointed out that during the early fire season virtually all wildland fires are preventable.

“This time of the season especially, every fire is human caused,” he said.

Despite the additional planning, both men said that if there isn’t new snow through the spring, the Mat-Su could be in for a second consecutive season of tinderbox conditions.

“All predictions are it’s going to be a long season,” Barkley said.

Contact Frontiersman editor Matt Tunseth at 352-2268 or email matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com