Alaska Public Media

The owner of the Alaska Dispatch News has submitted a response to a $1 million lawsuit filed against her.

In the document, Alice Rogoff’s lawyers deny claims by the paper’s former editor, Tony Hopfinger, that he was wrongfully terminated at the end of last year. Instead, the response says that during an argument in the winter of 2015 Hopfinger swore at Rogoff before saying, “I’ll see you in court.”

Rogoff’s lawyers also dispute that a note she jotted on a napkin promising to pay Hopfinger $100,000 at the end of each calendar year was meant to buy his 5 percent ownership stake in the company. In 2012, when another stakeholder sold her 5 percent interest in the company, she was paid just $5,000. Lawyers also add that the napkin contract lacks the “requisite formality or content to be enforceable.”

In a short statement sent via text message, Hopfinger wrote that he strongly disagrees with Rogoff’s response, and looks forward to both sides giving depositions.

It’s raining in Anchorage, and fire officials say prospects are looking good for the 842-acre McHugh Fire in Chugach State Park.

The five days of predicted rain are improving the situation and the current perimeter likely won’t change much, said Alaska Wildland Fire Program Manager Tom Kurth during a morning press briefing Thursday.

“Five days is a good amount. … We’re gonna see some radical diminishing of the fire behavior that we’ve had here. I’m going to say, again, that the picture here is pretty positive,” Kurth said.

The forecast also allows the five hotshot crews from Tahoe and the crews from Alaska to take offensive measures against the fire, he said. Until now they were focused on defending structures. With the rain, they can start fighting the blaze directly. The fire is still over a mile away, across multiple ridges, from both the Rainbow Valley and Potter Creek subdivisions.

Though the rain is good for the fire, Kurth said the loose soil could cause rocks and other debris to fall onto the Seward Highway.

“Temporary road closures are a possibility. (Department of Transportation) is ready to deal with that. We find that the traffic backs up there pretty quickly while they’re trying to do that.”

The winds are blowing smoke into Anchorage, and there is a moderate air quality warning in effect for Anchorage and Eagle River. The weather will likely prevent any over-flights and helicopter drops on the fire area Thursday.

Hundreds of personnel from Alaska and the Lower 48 are working on stopping its growth.

Local meteorologists told a crowd of nearly 200 community members gathered at South Anchorage High School that the good news is the weather is improving. By early Thursday, the warm, dry spell should give way to light rain. Though they only expect 0.02 to 0.05 inches of precipitation Thursday, even that amount will help dampen fuels. Forecasts call for heavier rains all day Friday and more on Saturday.

The shifting winds will also help dampen the fire, though smoke will likely blow over the Anchorage Bowl.

Alaska Wildland Fire Program Manager Tom Kurth said he’s confident that given the favorable conditions, the fire will not get worse. It needs to go up and down about two more mountain ridges before either Potter Creek or Rainbow Valley subdivisions will be evacuated.

Resident Jason Hipszer attended the meeting. He has lived in Alaska for 37 years and moved to Potter Creek seven years ago. He said he’s not too concerned about the fire.

“I feel pretty good. I’ve lived up here a long time and seen a few fires,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys up there right now (in Potter Creek). Lots of crew up there. And I’m ready to go. I know the way out, and we’ve got our passports and our wallets, so I guess we’re okay.”

He and his family have made their house defensible by surrounding it with gravel and keeping the lawns green. But he still wanted to know what government agencies had in mind in case the fire did hit the neighborhood. After listening to an hour-long presentation by city and state officials, he felt confident.

“It’s good to see they’re working together. They’re communicating. For us living there, I feel seeing that is a bit comforting,” Hipszer said.

Representatives from at least six agencies presented during the meeting.

But if it comes down to it, what is the evacuation plan?

Anchorage Police Department Acting Deputy Chief Bill Miller said if it’s necessary, the Seward Highway will be closed, and police will go from house to house, asking people to leave. Residents can shelter in place but must inform fire personnel that they are staying.

He said the entirety of APD will be called into action and will work 12-hour shifts. Half of the staff will focus on the evacuation while the other focuses on citywide safety. The plan involves emergency shelters and animal evacuations. Residents piped up during the meeting to assure each other even horses will have a place to go.

Cheri Lipps of Bear Valley knows the evacuation plans well; she participated in a drill in her neighborhood and keeps in touch with the fire department. Bear Valley isn’t under threat from the McHugh Fire, but Lipps wanted to be able to spread useful information to her community.

“Most importantly is to be prepared, not panic,” she said after the meeting “It’s too easy for people to get excited and some of the questions and concerns are based on fear. Just reach out, pay attention and be prepared.”

That’s what Anchorage Fire Department Forester John See wants the entire community to do. He said it’s not too late to make sure your home is clear of potential fire fuels.

“You go home and you look at your wooden fence and you’re gonna find some dead grass and some leaves that didn’t get raked up last fall next to your fence, and these are great receptors for these embers that land.”

See said it’s the embers that cause most houses to burn and help spread the fire past its current boundaries.

“These gusty winds could cause these trees to torch and generate some embers that land half a mile from the main fire. That’s going to be one of the main things to watch for,” he explained.

“But as the air mass moistens up, the humidity goes up, cloud cover increases, all of that’s going to help mitigate that probability that the ember is going to start a new fire.”

McHugh is one of more than 180 fires burning around the state. Thirteen of them are staffed.

The five-day-old McHugh fire continues to burn in Chugach State Park in southeast Anchorage, and fire officials are calling in additional crews to battle the blaze.

Size estimates for the fire vary from 350 acres to 600, though Alaska Wildland Fire Program Manager Tom Kurth told reporters Wednesday morning that officials should soon have a more accurate map.

Kurth said 150 people are currently battling the fire, including crews on the ground and flying in by helicopter from Girdwood. Reinforcements are arriving today in the form hotshot crews from the lower 48, who will relieve firefighters who have been working for days in the heat and steep terrain.

“We have worn these initial attack resources just about out, and that’s some of the best crews in the country,” he said.

Kurth said at this point, the goal isn’t containment. Instead, he expects crews will spend the day closely monitoring the fire from above and working it from the ground where it’s safe. They’re also keeping an eye on the weather, as rain may bring relief tomorrow.

Officials have not given any evacuation orders, but they’re asking residents in the Rainbow Valley and Potter Creek areas, which are still about a mile to a mile and a half from the fireline, to be ready to go. Fire crews have been clearing dry grasses and laying hoses in the Rainbow Valley area, Kurth said.

Rainbow Valley resident Lindsay Fagrelius said by e-mail that firefighters have marked lots in the area so that properties are easy to spot if conditions get worse. She spent Tuesday night at home, and said much of the smoke had dissipated from the area.

As of midday Wednesday, the Seward Highway remained open to traffic, but pull-offs from McHugh Creek to Rainbow are closed.

A community meeting was scheduled for Wednesday night at South Anchorage High School. For updates, visit akfireinfo.com.

Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan took the stage in Cleveland on the second night of the Republican National Convention. While Sullivan never named the man the party had just nominated for president, Donald Trump, he did close with his campaign slogan.

Sullivan reminded the crowd that Republicans took back Senate leadership after the last general election.

“In 2014, you made this happen! Republicans all across the country coming together who wanted new energy in the Senate — and who wanted to fire Harry Reid!” he shouted from the stage, with eight other freshman senators and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell standing in an array behind him.

Sullivan was the only member of Alaska’s congressional delegation to come to the convention. He has criticized some of Trump’s positions, but the senator met with Trump a few weeks ago, on Capitol Hill. Sullivan spokesman Mike Anderson said the conversation helped secure his spot on the convention schedule.

One freshman senator missing from the line-up on stage: Republican Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Sasse has openly campaigned against Trump.

Sullivan’s speech lasted two and a half minutes, more of an extended rallying cry. He ended with a crowd-pleasing line.

“We will make America great again!” he said, to big cheers.

The McHugh Fire burning in the Anchorage area close to the Seward Highway is now estimated at 350 acres. Earlier estimates on Tuesday said it had grown to more than 500 acres, but fire officials downgraded the size based on better mapping.

Division of Forestry spokesperson Lori Wiertsema said the main thing people need to know is to avoid the area. Traffic is backed up for one to two hours in each direction. Only a single lane is open on the Seward Highway and motorists are being led through by pilot cars, but Wiertsema says they do not plan to close to road. The Anchorage Police Department had sent out a community-wide alert earlier in the afternoon saying a closure was possible.

Crews are battling the fire to prevent it from damaging structures in nearby neighborhoods. They are clearing vegetation around homes and laying out some pumps and hoses as preventative measures.

Lindsay Fagrelius lives in Rainbow Valley, the neighborhood closest to the flames. She decided on her own to evacuate and was waiting it out at the Brown Bear Saloon.

“The trees and brush are so dense up there I almost think it’s hopeless,” Fagrelius said. She used to work as a firefighter in Montana. “I think if it goes through, it’s going to burn pretty hot.”

Fagrelius, who also had to evacuate because of the Funny River Fire on the Kenai two years ago, says she woke up, heard the news and started clearing brush from around the cabin she rents. Then she packed up her instruments, skis and dog and headed out.

She said she was worried she could get stuck if the fire moved over the road, and she didn’t get the notice to evacuate.

“Cell reception is so crummy (up there). I was worried I wouldn’t find out right away if there was an evacuation.”

Anchorage Fire Marshal Cleo Hill said it’s been more than 30 years since there was a fire this size near the homes along the Hillside, and they are very concerned because of the extremely dry conditions.

“Right now we’re monitoring Rainbow Valley, which is down by the McHugh Creek fire, but should the weather change and the wind head into Anchorage, we’ll be monitoring Potter Valley and south Hillside area.”

Anchorage Police Department and the Alaska State Troopers will notify community members of any evacuations via Nixle alerts if necessary.

Meteorologist Dave Snider with the National Weather Service said the dynamic terrain along the coast where the fire is burning complicates where the wind is feeding the flames, and makes it tricky for crews working in the area. Conditions will likely continue to feed the fire until a new weather system arrives, he said.

There could be rain early Thursday morning, but Snider cautions that only about a tenth of an inch of precipitation is expected. However, along with it should come more humidity and lower temperatures.

A red flag warning had been issued through 10 p.m. Tuesday because of high winds, low humidity and high temperatures.

There is also a burn ban in place for Anchorage. Only closed barbecues and fish smokers are allowed. Parts of Chugach State Park near the fire, including the Turnagain Arm Trail, are closed to public use.

A 19-year-old from western Alaska was honored last week at the White House for his work advocating on behalf of communities experiencing climate change first hand. Esau Sinnok spoke to me from his cousin’s house in Nome on his way back home to Shishmaref. He was in Washington advocating for climate equity.

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ESAU: Climate equity, to me, means we’ll have available resources so that Shishmaref will have the available resources to either relocate or adapt to climate change so that our future generations can have fun and experience the lifestyle that I had the privilege. So that our future generations can live the traditional lifestyle that ancestors have been living for the past 4,000 years on Shishmaref.

HUGHES: In your own life, have you seen changes to the climate?

ESAU: Yeah, ever since I was born in 1997, we had to move about three dozen houses from one side of the island to the other because of big storm surges that happened in Shishmaref so that they don’t topple over and go into the ocean. It affects me personally because I lost a loved one. He fell through the ice when him and my dad and a few others went out to the mainland on their snowmachines on the ice to go duck hunting. And on their way back, he fell through the ice and he thought that the ice would be frozen like in previous years, but for some reason it wasn’t frozen all the way so he fell through and lost his life.

HUGHES: What’s one of the messages from Alaska that you’ve tried to bring to the attention of other influencers and other leaders?

ESAU: I always tell other people, wherever I go and whoever I meet, that the youth voice is very powerful. That they are the future leaders of tomorrow. It’s very important for us youth to have a voice in all these types of movements and all these types of issues. Because the future that we’re going to inherit is being decided right now and affecting my hometown of Shishmaref greatly, affecting 223 communities all across Alaska greatly. And not just in Alaska but in the Gulf Coast, in the Lower 48 like in Louisiana and Florida, those states.

HUGHES: And can you tell me what it was like at the White House?

ESAU: It was like a once in a lifetime opportunity at the White House. I had my goosebumps and my heart was beating every time I was there. It was like I couldn’t believe I was there. I’m just a rural village Native kid, and to experience that … it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. And I would love to get other youth involved to share the same experience. To share what I felt when I was there.

HUGHES: My last question for you is, what your next step is?

ESAU: I’m currently studying at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in tribal management and hopefully continue with a rural development degree so that I can go back to Shishmaref and run as city mayor and to experience how to lead our community. Hopefully one day I could run for governor of Alaska by the year 2030 to represent, not only the big cities like Anchorage and Fairbanks and Juneau, but also the rural communities. I wanna make a change and try to make a positive and better future so that our future generations can live in a safe environment and don’t have the problems that I’m seeing every time I’m back at the community.