Willow declared disaster area

WILLOW — An immense wildfire that began near Capitol Speedway along the Parks Highway grew Sunday from 2 acres to more than 6,500 acres during the first 11 hours of the worst wildfire the Mat-Su Borough has experienced in nearly 20 years.

While the Sockeye Fire remained dangerous officials said at a June 15 press conference that efforts had shifted from protecting lives to protecting property.

More than 200 Willow residents were sheltering at the Houston Middle School and the Upper Susitna Senior Center in Talkeetna. About 160 were in Talkeetna, while about 50 more were at Houston Middle School, officials said.

Borough officials said they had requested assistance from Gov. Bill Walker in declaring Willow a disaster area. The declaration could eventually clear the way for property owners in the affected areas to receive funds from the state and federal governments.

“It’s amazing to see the number of homes that were there, that were only there because people risked their lives to fight for those homes,” he said. “It’s very powerful, but the human response has been equally powerful.”

Governors can evaluate a request from a municipal government, but that won’t be the case here, Walker said.

“We will act immediately,” he said.

Walker, who toured the fire by helicopter and delayed a press conference by about 20 minutes because of the flight, made an official declaration of a disaster a few hours later, around 5 p.m.

Officials spent $48,000 on the fire from 1 p.m., Sunday, when the fire was reported, to about midnight, when the last updates were posted. Heavy smoke was making it difficult for officials to assess the full extent of both the fire’s size and the amount of damage, Forestry officials said.

A visibly exhausted District 7 borough Assemblyman Vern Halter spoke of a fire that at times appeared life-threatening, and that had claimed at least a dozen houses.

Later in the day Monday, Division of Forestry officials said a door-to-door assessment by emergency personnel counted at least 45 structures had been destroyed so far.

“It’s very somber in Willow right now,” Halter said. “It’s a very serious fire. I don’t have much sleep, so you’re gonna have to be patient with me.”

He and borough emergency manager Casey Cook were driving through the fire about the time it crossed Willow Creek, he said.

“It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” Halter said. “I just got scared.”

High winds and low humidity contributed to the fire’s breathtaking spread, and authorities expected those conditions to continue through at least 10 p.m., Monday, when a National Weather Service Red Flag advisory was set to expire.

Authorities had rescued 400 to 500 sled dogs from Willow, the unofficial capital of Valley dog mushing. Along with the dogs, 42 horses and numerous alpaca, goats and sheep had been spared from the encroaching flames through the efforts of a network of Facebook groups. The fire had not claimed a single life within the first 24 hours, officials said.

Among the losses, Jaimee and Justin High, whose house burned in December, found themselves again at a pile of charred rubble that used to be their belongings. Facebook photos showed construction had not been completed on the reconstruction of their house and business.

“It’s beyond frustrating,” Justin said. “I don’t really know what to feel right now with it.”

Celebrity musher DeeDee Jonrowe lost her house, but rescued most of her dogs. The loss was devastating, Jonrowe said.

“I lost everything,” she said tearfully.

Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel became a refuge both for sled dogs and mushers south of the fire, all of whom said they were grateful.

The fire also threatened two depots containing tens of thousands of pounds of explosives at Mile 63 and Mile 77, Parks Highway. Fire and company officials eventually decided the explosives were far enough removed from danger to be left in place, Cook said.

The Parks itself was restricted to a single alternating lane most of the day, with occasional closures as the fire drew close to the road or edged back, according to borough spokeswoman Pam Ness. A pilot car shuttled emergency traffic through in groups of 30 vehicles.

Five out-of-state crews of elite “hot shot” wildland firefighters would be deployed to the fire, said Tom Kurth, the fire program manager for the Forestry Division. Some were already on the ground Monday morning.

He described an active, wind-driven fire capable of jumping up to 200 feet at a time, and a fuel — black spruce — that acted as “gasoline on a stick.”

For now, firefighters were focused on defense, but as more personnel move into the area from the Lower 48, Kenai, Anchorage and British Columbia, firefighters will eventually begin a counter attack and work to control the fire, Kurth said.

"We'll start a more offensive mode when we get additional crews," he said.

Things will likely get worse before they get better, Kurth said.

“Our crews, particularly on the south end there will be certainly challenged here as the afternoon progresses,” he said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.