Wear your seat belt, mind your campfire

PALMER — As Memorial Day weekend approaches, officials warn drivers to be safe and revelers to be vigilant about their campfires.

Valley law enforcement is gearing up for another round of Click it or Ticket enforcement starting this weekend and running through June 2. The campaign entails officers working overtime to specifically look for drivers not wearing seat belts. Funding comes from the Alaska Highway Safety Office.

Meanwhile in Palmer, Mat-Su Fire Management officer for the state Division of Forestry, Norm McDonald, said that this year’s fire season is gearing up despite being close to a month later than normal.

“With the slow spring, leaves aren’t out and grass is cured out and dead,” he said. “It’s about where we usually are the first part of May.”

As of Thursday, official count stood at 10 fires in Mat-Su and Anchorage, but just 1.3 acres burned. As usual, the Butte area was first this year to see a fire near wildlands, McDonald said. It started just this week.

“It was kind of the first indicator for us that things are starting to pick up. We actually had a potential for spread and higher flame lengths,” McDonald said.

A fire listed as “spreading rapidly towards black spruce” Wednesday drew a response from Forestry, Butte fire fighters and Forestry’s water-dropping helicopter.

“A written warning was issued for burning out of compliance with permit guidelines,” the report says.

Burn permits are required and are available on the Forestry website.

Also in the fire report is a smoking, underground coal seam fire in the Buffalo Mine area that’s been sending up smoke since at least last year and has more than likely been burning for many years prior.

“Last year we went out there and took some action on the coal seam itself to make sure it didn’t spread,” McDonald said. Since then, Forestry has kept the fire in its list of active fires so that when it’s called in, dispatchers can tell people what it is.

“There’s probably several of them, this is just one we know about.”

As for the other nine fires, McDonald said it’s the same story as always.

“They’re all human-caused and primarily just people burning their yard debris and not following the conditions on the burn permit,” he said.

Which is why he said he’s thinking this long weekend might see fire season really kick into gear.

“This weekend they are calling for some warmer, drier conditions,” he said.

One wrinkle this year over last — the late spring has kind of changed the way fire seasons begin on a statewide level. Usually they start in the south — Kenai Peninsula — then move north to Anchorage, Mat-Su and eventually Fairbanks. This year, though, it looks like the whole Railbelt is entering fire season at the same time.

Since the state shares resources with firefighters and vehicles moving where they’re needed, it could get interesting. But one advantage of the late start is that Forestry has had more time to train. McDonald said they’re ready.

“We are. Our air tankers are on and both our hand crews are up and ready to go and engines and helicopters staffed and ready,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or

andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.