Valley firefighters, others headed to help

MAT-SU — Local residents saw and smelled some of the smoky fallout of the huge fires on the Kenai Peninsula and near Tyonek Thursday while local firefighters head down to lend a hand.

The state’s Division of Forestry tends to send crews wherever they’re needed, meaning that when a fire that big starts anywhere, Mat-Su teams will be helping fight it. This time was no exception, with Gannett Glacier hot shots assigned to the so-called Funny River Horse Trail Fire burning in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, and the Pioneer Peak hot shots on the Tyonek fire.

The Palmer Airport, home to Forestry’s Mat-Su office, is also playing host to water-dropping airplanes, seven of which came up this week from Alberta, Canada.

Five crews of 20 people each are headed up from the Lower 48 to help fight the fires on the ground, said Forestry spokeswoman Sarah Saarloos.

She said that three of the planes are set up to drop retardant, and four are what they refer to as “scoopers.” The scoopers fly low over lakes, scoop up a load of water and then return to the scene to drop the water.

Mat-Su Fire Management Officer Norm McDonald said that the Mat-Su office was busy with activity Thursday. He said crews were headed in from the Lower-48 and Palmer was also handling maintenance and coordination of the airplanes.

Not even all of the firefighters had left, he said.

“We have some in reserve for new starts, initial attack type stuff,” McDonald said.

The Mat-Su Borough also is sending a task force of firefighters from the Central Mat-Su, Willow and West Lakes fire departments to the Funny River fire. Central chipped in two fire engines, a command vehicle and seven firefighters, including task force leader Jake Boothby. West Lakes put in one engine and three firefighters, and Willow contributed a brush truck and two firefighters.

The borough’s Deputy Director of Emergency Services, Clint Vardeman, said that the task force is in addition to ATVs the borough sent to the fire last week. He said Forestry requested people and the borough obliged. If the fire lasts two more weeks, the borough will look at replacing them with fresh firefighters, he said.

“We always are making sure that we have enough people and apparatus to cover the borough before we send anything,” Vardeman said.

Winds that had pushed smoke from the fire toward Kodiak shifted overnight Wednesday, and Mat-Su residents woke up to a foul smelling haze in the area. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough issued an air quality advisory for the entire borough Thursday morning.

“Due to the smoky conditions, the air quality in these areas has become unhealthy to hazardous,” the borough says.

The Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued similar air quality advisories for the Anchorage area.

Until the fires are extinguished and the smoke clears, children, the elderly, and persons with existing heart or lung disease are advised to stay indoors and reduce physical activity. The general population should avoid vigorous outdoor activity.

People can access the Air Quality Alert System by calling 352-3878 for daily information on air quality in the eastern Matanuska Valley.

Perhaps in an attempt to reduce calls to its emergency dispatch center, the city of Palmer took the rare step of letting people know on Facebook where the smoke was coming from.

“Palmer Dispatch has received numerous calls regarding the large amount of smoke in the area. Please note that there are no active fires in our area,” the city wrote.

The city promised to let residents know on Facebook, Twitter and via its automated notification system if a fire does start in the area.

National Weather Service online maps of Alaska Thursday were painted red with so-called Red Flag Warnings for high fire danger. The warnings were in regions as far flung as Bethel, Fort Yukon, St. Mary’s, Ambler, McGrath, Talkeetna and Glennallen.

Just about every agency, from Forestry to the borough to the city of Palmer, reiterated that residents should refrain from any burning until the burn ban in place since last week is lifted. The ban applies to anything bigger than a campfire, but Forestry warns about even small fires.

“Following safe burning guidelines are mandatory,” the division writes in the notice of the burn ban on its website. “Remember — you are responsible for any fire you ignite!”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.