Wildfire haze blows into Valley

MAT-SU -- A wildfire haze blanketed the Valley again early this week as southeast winds blew smoke from the Glacier Creek fire into the Palmer-Wasilla area and massive wildfires continued to spread through the Interior.

Thirty-one miles southeast of Soldotna, the Glacier Creek fire remained active as of Monday. The blaze, which began Aug. 15, had consumed an estimated 8,800 acres as of Tuesday, Aug. 31, and continues to spread, said D.L. Wilkerson of the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center in Fairbanks.

Both Kasilof and Kenai reported heavy smoke from the fire as 5-mph winds pushed the haze northwest into the Valley. Although rain was forecast for Wednesday, winds out of the southeast were expected to increase to 10 mph, bringing more wildfire smoke into the area.

The haze was expected to linger in the Valley until it rains or until wind patterns change, Wilkerson said. Northwest winds of 5 to 15 mph were forecast for Friday, with a west wind of 5 to 10 mph for Saturday. If these changes in wind patterns occur, the Anchorage and Mat-Su areas should be cleared of wildfire smoke over the weekend, Wilkerson said.

John See, regional fire manager for the state Division of Forestry, said the haze over the Valley is due to a combination of factors, including both the Glacier Creek fire and wildfires in Alaska's interior.

"It's a bit like trying to figure out how salmon get back to their stream," See said. "There's so many factors to consider. We've got a lot of smoke coming from the Interior right now, it's quite heavy around McGrath and the fires around the Taylor complex are still spreading."

See said the Interior fires have grown to such great proportions that there are not enough crews in the whole system to fight them aggressively. Crews are now focusing on structure protection.

"There is perimeter growth every day with some of these fires," See said. "Some of them are so large, even if only 20 to 30 percent of the perimeter is active, that's still miles and miles of burning wildland. What's happening is unprecedented."

This year's wildfire season is now the worst in Alaska's history, with more than 6 million acres burned, surpassing the previous record of 5.1 million acres burned in 1957. There have been 644 wildfires in the state this year, with 97 currently active, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

On Tuesday morning, the Mat-Su Borough Planning and Land Use Department issued an air-quality advisory for the eastern Matanuska Valley that will remain in effect through midnight, Sept. 3. It is the second air quality advisory the borough has issued in the last two weeks.

Air quality has become unhealthy to hazardous on account of drifting smoke, according to the release, and children, the elderly and anyone with existing heart or respiratory ailments should avoid prolonged physical exertion and outdoor activity. In addition, the general population should avoid vigorous outdoor activity, the release stated.

Daily information on air quality in the eastern Matanuska Valley is available by calling the 24-hour Air Quality Alert System phone number at 352-3878.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com