Southcentral

Update: Thursday, June 18th. 9:00 am.

The Card Street Fire on the Kenai Peninsula has grown to more than 9,000 acres.

More ground and support personnel are arriving, and the fire has pushed east into the Skilak Lake area. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge ordered an evacuation of all the campgrounds along Skilak Lake Road.

The Type-2 management team has arrived in Sterling and will be coordinating operations today.

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 10:00 pm.

According to the Alaska Interagency Fire Coordination Office west winds continue driving the Card Street fire towards the north shore area of Skilak Lake. The fire has crossed Skilack Loop Road, prompting the Department of transportation to close the road and evacuate the nearby recreation area. Suppression efforts in the area are ongoing.

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 5:10 pm.

The Card Street Fire has burned 11 structures and had spread to 3,000 acres, according to Terry Anderson of the Division of Forestry. The fire on Wednesday was driven by westerly winds which were pushing flames into the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in the direction of Skilak Lake Loop Road. The area is a popular recreation area, but the campgrounds near Skilak Lake have been cleared.

The fire was moving away from residential areas on the banks of the Kenai River.

There are 175 firefighters working to put out the fire, Anderson said in a release.

Firefighters had been dispatched from the Kenai Borough, Alaska Division of Forestry, Alaska Smokejumpers, Selawik, Idaho and Montana.

Favorable winds, a lot of water and good preparation by property owners kept the damage limited to one structure Tuesday night, Anderson said.

“The fire made a major run to the west,” he said. “It jumped Kenai Keys and came into the subdivision with lots of sparks and embers and trees torching, and it was a battle for a good solid three hours or so. It was supported by air tankers dropping loads of retardants right next to houses trying to support the firefighters. A lot of success.”

Anderson said additional administrative and ground support were expected to arrive on the scene.

“There’s a lot of tired firefighters out there right now, so to be supplemented by a management team or more fire crews is what we all need right now. We have about 125 new firefighters hit the ground today [Wednesday]. More have been ordered and I expect to see more coming.”

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 10:30 am.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is putting federal money behind the effort to fight the Card Street Fire in Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula.

The fire is now five percent contained.

At least 300 people have been evacuated, mostly in the Fueding Lane and Kenai Keys areas. Hundreds of homes are potentially in the path of the fire, many of them primary homes. Three homes have been destroyed so far, ten structures in total. The fire has consumed more than 2,500 acres.

Hot Shot crews arrived Tuesday night and a Type-2 Management Team was expected to take over operations Wednesday afternoon. There are 28 uncontrolled fires within the state which has burned over 70,000 acres to date.

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 6:30 am.

Fire crews were kept busy on the central Kenai Peninsula Tuesday night, keeping an eye on the Card Street Fire to prevent it from spreading to homes in the Kenai Keys areas, and attacking two new fires in the Copper Landing area.

Lightning was pegged as the culprit for the new fires, both near Milepost 51 of the Sterling Highway. The Alaska Division and Forestry and the Forest Service initially focused on the fire near Juneau Lake along Resurrection Pass Trail, north of the Sterling Highway.

The other is burning on the south side of the highway on a steep mountainside in the Russian Lakes area. That fire was about 20 acres when crews reached the area, but Andy Alexandrou, with the Division of Forestry, said Tuesday that the Russian Lake Fire is “gobbling” — moving fast up steep terrain near power lines, the Sterling Highway, and some residences.

No lightning strikes were recording in Sterling on Tuesday, but dry conditions and variable winds continue to hinder firefighting efforts. The Card Street Fire, which began Monday afternoon, had grown to just over 2,000 acres, or 3 square miles, by Tuesday evening. The fire has damaged or destroyed at least 10 structures in eastern Sterling, three of them houses.

Hot spots appeared across the Kenai River in last year’s Funny River Fire burn area Tuesday, but crews have been able to contain them. Air tankers continue to dump retardant as a barrier between the fire’s edge and homes, with helicopters dumping water in more targeted operations.

Residents are keeping a close eye on the fire, as well. Many have evacuated, with the Sterling Community Center serving as a shelter and hub for relief efforts. Not everyone is heeding the evacuation request, however.

Kurt and Tammy Strausbaugh stayed in their house Monday night and watched the flames come to within a half mile from their back deck.

“I’ve got a good 50-foot buffer around at least most of my home, but our home is made of wood and our deck is really kindling dry, just like everything else is right now,” Kurt said.

The Strausbaughs live about one-third of a mile down Card Street off the Sterling Highway. They had everything packed up and moved out Monday, and were ready to move themselves is need be.

“We just hunkered down. We’re so close to the highway, if the flames would have come onto our property we already had the vehicles pointed down the street,” he said. “We would be able to get out, put it that way.”

Alexandrou said that a hot shot crew was scheduled to arrive on the scene Tuesday night, and a Type 2 management team is expected to take over operations Wednesday morning.

More air support is on the way, as well, including two Black Hawk helicopters from the National Guard and a Canadian CL-215 scoop aircraft.

Update: Wednesday, June 17. 5:45 pm.

Lightning strikes are thought to be the cause of two new fires that started Tuesday near the Kenai Peninsula community of Cooper Landing. Both fires are at zero percent containment and power lines have been shut off near the larger fire.

The first, called the Stetson Creek Fire, was first reported to Alaska State Troopers just after 6:00 pm Tuesday night. It was burning on very steep terrain and erratic winds overnight caused it to grow quickly.

Mona Spargo is a public affairs specialist with the US Forest Service.

“The good news is, it was originally estimated at 750-1000 acres and they’ve been able to look at it a little closer and it’s now 250-300,” she said.

An initial attack crew and Volunteer fire department from Cooper Landing and Moose Pass worked through the night.

“It is south of the Sterling Highway between the Russian River and Cooper Creek,” Spargo said. “Right now, there is no imminent threat to structures. However, it is close to the Cooper Creek campground which has been closed. It has been evacuated. That’s not because of fire danger right there, that’s just because we need it for logistics and for doing fire line and some of that.”

The second fire, called the Juneau Lake fire, was noticed by state troopers and reported in just after 7:00 pm.

It was burning up by treeline, but expanded overnight toward a wetter area and hasn’t grown much above the 60 acres it had reached by Wednesday morning.

“It’s east of Juneau Lake, north of Cooper Landing,” she said. “It’s in between the Romig and Juneau cabins on Resurrection Pass Trail.”

State resources first responded with a helitack crew and scooper firefighting aircraft. Then, US Forest Service crews took over.

“We have crews doing a trap line up and down, telling people what’s going on. We’ve posted the trail. We’ve evacuated the trails from the south trailhead to the Devil’s Creek junction.”

Although they still share state resources, both fires were turned over from the state to the US Forest Service after initial assessment as their boundaries are within the Chugach National Forest.

The forest, and the nearby community of Cooper Landing have a lot of tourism activity in the summer months, as a prime recreational spot near the Kenai River.

Update: Tuesday, June 16. 9:15 pm.
Two fires are currently burning near Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula.

Andy Alexandrou with the Division of Forestry says the Russian Lake Fire is “gobbling” – it’s moving fast up steep terrain near power lines, the Sterling Highway, and some residences. The fire was 20 acres when the first crew arrived earlier this evening, but they didn’t have enough resources to respond initially. Crews from the nearby Juneau Lake Fire were diverted to Russian Lake to try to protect structures.

The Juneau Lake Fire was only half an acre when crews started dumping 200 gallon buckets on the area. Alexandrou says they emptied nine loads before refueling then diverting.

Both fires are on Forest Service lands near the Resurrection Pass trail system. It is unknown if they are human caused or the result of lightening from this evening’s storms.

The Montana Creek Fires are “under control” according to Mat-Su Borough PIO Celeste Prescott.

Original Post: Tuesday, June 16. 8:30 pm.

On Tuesday evening, lightning strikes started two fires in the area of Goose Creek near Mile 95 of the Parks Highway. Sockeye Fire Incident Command spokesperson Celeste Prescott said that the Division of Forestry dispatched two tankers and a helicopter to combat the fires. She says a total of at least nine new starts due to lightning had been reported by 8:00 pm on Tuesday.

As of that time, Prescott said the aircraft reported that they were returning from the area, which could indicate that the fires have been significantly slowed.

Prescott said a hotshot crew on loan from the Sockeye Fire efforts is on the way to the fires to attempt to contain and secure the area. They are officially being referred to as the Montana Creek fires.

The Division of Forestry has also confirmed an addition fire in Cooper Landing, not far from Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula. However, details are not yet available.

There is a bit of heartening news from the Sockeye fire. Erratic weather, expected to bring strong winds to the area late Tuesday, did not actually materialize after a thunderstorm passed overhead, and fire crews have arrived from outside Alaska to begin an offensive against the blaze.

The parking lot at Houston High School is now a staging area for forestry personnel, as fire crews begin a full assault on the Sockeye wildfire.

Vanloads of equipment are piled high, cases of water bottles stacked everywhere, and shovels and backpacks are heaped up, ready for the five 20-person Hot Shot crews that arrived Tuesday. Tom Kurth, the incident commander, hosted a press conference in the school parking lot Tuesday afternoon, saying the fire had gained one thousand acres between Monday and Tuesday, and he was watching the weather, concerned that conditions that could expand the blaze

“We’re starting to get familiar with exactly how to approach it, and you’ll see progress made as we continue through the week here. Again, we do have what our fire weather forecaster is saying no break in the activity here as far as she can see. Today, we have dry thunderstorms predicted for the Talkeetna Mountains, due East of here. That could bring dry lightening, new starts, it could also bring strong downdrafts, winds, behavior that could excite the fire out there. ”

The thunderstorm passed over the North end of the fire, around 7 pm, sprinkling the area a bit, but doing little to douse the rest of the blaze. Celeste Prescott, an Alaska Incident Management Team fire information officer, said the winds did not come up late Tuesday either, and that is good news.

“The crews were able to get a great amount of work done, with favorable weather through most of the day. When the thunderstorm, the cell, did move through the area, they did receive some winds on the fire, but no major significant events happened from that.”

Prescott said that the fire is not expected to grow much by Wednesday. She said that there will be a total of 16 crews working on the blaze when another planeload of firefighters arrives Wednesday from Boise, Idaho.

Prescott said that some of the incoming firefighters will be sent to work on the Kenai wildfire. One hot shot crew was loaned to Mat Su to fight lightening caused fires near Montana Creek on Tuesday, she said. Those blazes are under control.

The Sockeye fire is the number one priority in the state, and the nation, she said, although so many fire resources are available now because there is little fire activity in the Lower 48.

Although the slight inroads on the fire are welcome news, Prescott could not say how long it will be before the fire is contained.

“Well, here’s our biggest issue. This is a fuel driven fire, also, with wind and weather, I mean, we need the help of Mother Nature to help us out.”

And mother nature is notoriously fickle.

“We’re gonna work on securing the edges as much as possible. But with as large a fire as this and as hot as it’s burnt and as deep as it’s burnt, we’re going to need some rain and some cooler temperatures. We’re going to be in this for a duration of time. ”

And for homeowners waiting in shelters to find out if it is safe to go home again, the news is not good. Tom Kurth said on Tuesday that a lot of places that were evacuated are in the interior of the fire. He says forestry wants to keep those areas clear for fire crews to do their work

“So we’re trying to keep that area clear so we can move our firefighting resources in and out of those places safely. We know it’s a major inconvenience for people, but we do have the cooperation of law enforcement who have sealed those areas off. So right now, we have not allowed people in there. That decision will be made in cooperation with the Mat Su Borough and with law enforcement, and it is likely, I’m going to still put forty eight hours on that.”

A community meeting is set for 7 pm in Houston Middle School Wednesday.

Four representatives travelled to Homer to explain the purpose of Northern Edge. Captain Raymond Hesser is a naval officer with Alaskan Command.

“We as a team were able to present a lot of information. I’m sure they learned something and the whole point was an information exchange. We gave them some information and then we were able to listen. I think we got a pretty good amount of feedback,” says Hesser.

Hesser and his team explained the history of Northern Edge, the drills involved, and the equipment that would be used. They also said there wouldn’t be any population wide impacts to fish or marine mammals. Homer residents rejected that. Bob Shavelson, Executive Director of Cook Inletkeeper, seemed to surprise the delegation with a question on the Navy’s recent legal trouble regarding exercises planned in waters near Hawaii and Southern California.

“There was a court decision in April that said the analysis, the environmental analysis, that they did in Hawaii and Southern California waters was inadequate. And it was actually illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other federal laws,” says Shavelson.

Shavelson asked if the Navy violated federal law there, then what are they doing differently here. None of the speakers had an answer. Hesser says he wishes he did.

“Would I have liked to have answers to every single question that was given? Yes. Had I heard that question before? Yes. Have I heard it answered before? Yes. I just would not even dare to try and answer the question when I don’t personally know the answer. We just did the best we could on very short notice to try and be as transparent as possible,” says Hesser.

Hesser says the group was invited on Thursday which gave them a few days to make the trip to Homer. He adds that if the same legal error were made with this study he is sure they would face a similar court ruling.

“That’s not an answer to the question but I just understand that they’re different so I just tried to point that out,” says Hesser.

The audience also chided the representatives for the Navy’s history of pollution, for not knowing about herring data gathered by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, and for claiming sonar impacts on fish and marine mammals would be minimal. Shelley Gill is part of a years’ long humpback whale study with the nonprofit, Eye of the Whale.

“They say sonar doesn’t harm whales. The Navy was kicked out of Hawaii and kicked out of San Diego. He was just talking about how well they did in Puerto Rico and they were kicked out of Puerto Rico too. We know that sonar kills whales,” says Gill.

Gill says the Navy admits in its environmental impact study, or EIS, they don’t know the impact sonar could have on salmon. Dr. Cynthia Ledoux-Bloom is a Fisheries Scientist in California who has worked with the Navy in the Gulf of Alaska. But she says she’s only given the Supplemental EIS for Northern Edge a brief read. Ledoux-Bloom thinks there were good points raised at the meeting, like why the Trustee Council data on herring didn’t make it into the Navy’s impact study.

“I don’t know if the data was available between 2008 and 2011, but if it was it should have been included,” says Ledoux-Bloom.

But she also believes there’s a gap between people’s expectations and what is actually possible. For instance, she doesn’t know how to figure out if there’s a positive relationship between fish mortality and exercises the Navy will be doing in the gulf.

“Were there fish before the training operations? Were there fish after the training operations? Did the training operations themselves remove the fish? If the fish died did they float? Did they sink? Were they dead and just picked up by the shorebirds? So I think trying to figure out mortality and making that relationship…I don’t know how to do it,” says Ledoux-Bloom.

Dr. Ledoux-Bloom says there was a clear divide between the audience’s opinion on the exercises’ impact and the information touted by the Navy’s team. And she says that’s okay.

“When everything goes smooth, I don’t really think you’re getting the full picture or you’re not actually talking to the people you should be talking to. So I though the meeting itself had its moments of discomfort but overall, I really feel super hopeful about it,” says Ledoux-Bloom.

Hesser says he appreciates the community’s concerns and he wishes he could have come to Homer to start a dialogue months before Northern Edge got underway.

Update — 7 pm, Tuesday
The Division of Forestry is evacuating the Kenai Keyes subdivision for the second time today as the now 2,000 acre Card Street Fire is only one mile to the east of the area.

According to their Facebook post, “Firefighters are holding it out of the area but they want to get people out in the event wind associated with thunderstorm cells building to the east produces winds that could fan the flames.”

Various agencies are reporting that Hot Shot crews have arrived on the Kenai Peninsula to assist. Five teams, totaling 100 firefighters will join state and local forces numbering around 70.

Additional air support has also been called in, with two National Guard Blackhawk helicopters on the way and a scoop air craft. Nearly 40 drops have been made with fire dispersants.

The fire is moving to the east, and has forced the closure of the west entrance of Skilak Lake Road. The boat ramp there is still accessible from the east entrance.

The Division of Forestry estimates the cost for the first day of operations runs in excess of $140,000. So far 30 loads of retardants have been dumped on the fire. Ten structures have been confirmed destroyed.

A Type-2 management team from Washington state will transition into a lead role Wednesday, working with local agencies. An update from those officials is set for noon Wednesday.

Original post — 5:30 pm

New maps from the Kenai Peninsula Borough show the Card Street Fire has grown to approximately 1,500 acres.

The Community Center in Sterling continues to be the hub for relief efforts. Residents are sharing updates, along with food, clothes, phone chargers, everything. I was just opening my laptop to pull up the latest evacuation maps when a man who had just left the fire zone came over.

“My name is Shun Ada Chi. I saw that maybe my house was going to burn down because it’s coming very quickly through the Feuding Lane and Kenai Keys area. The people were screaming, crying, it’s a very horrible situation. My house is okay. But I’m feeling very sorry for people who have lost their house.”

Shun is one of the lucky ones. Crews have been battling the fire in his neighborhood for nearly 24 hours and ten structures have been destroyed. Krista Schooley is volunteering here. She’s already heard of some bad news for one family.

“We had a lady come in who lost everything,” Schooley said. “She was able to save her two dogs. Her husband woke up to the fire being on her house and all he could do was grab the animals and get out. She was dazed, just in shock. And she came in here and we just loved on her.”

This fire has been confirmed as human caused. It started Monday afternoon and quickly grew to more than six hundred acres. Calm winds throughout the night and into Tuesday morning helped slow the fire’s growth. But Forestry spokesperson Terry Anderson says firefighters are concerned about Tuesday night’s forecast.

“The national lightening forecast for dry lightening, which firefighters always go over in the morning, is a forecast from 1-6,” Anderson said. “Usually in Alaska you may see twos or threes or fours for a lightening forecast. The forecast for the Kenai is a six today. That’s about as high as it gets.”

A Hotshot crew was scheduled to arrive on the scene Tuesday night. A Type 2 management team is slated to take over operations Wednesday morning. Another Forestry spokesperson, Andy Alexandrou says more air support will be on the way as well.

“A couple of Black hawks that were ordered up this morning from the National Guard to pitch in with their bucket and water capability as well as a Canadian CL-215 scoop aircraft,” Alexandrou said. “We’ve seen them here in the state in the past.”

Travelers along the Sterling Highway should check with the Department of Transportation’s 511 number for information on closures. The Alaska State Troopers are in the area helping direct traffic as crews focus their attention on the east end of the fire, where it’s just a couple miles from the highway.

The Sockeye Fire burning north of Willow is now the number one priority fire in the country. At least 400 firefighters will be on scene by the end of Tuesday.

Fire information officials held a parking lot press conference at Houston High School, which is serving as the command post, this afternoon.

Tom Kurth, Sockeye fire incident commander, said crews coming in are attempting to gain a safe anchor at the north end of the fire and begin offensive action.

He said the fire – which started Sunday afternoon – is advancing on three sides; the eastern perimeter, the northwest corner and the southern tip.

“We still have a lot of potential for the fire to move,” he said. “However… t least we’re getting familiar with what it’s going to take to try to slow it down. There are a lot of structures still at risk, there’s a lot of values inside the perimeter so those are of upmost concern.”

Kurth said the priority is to protect structures, protect the railroad, and keep the Parks Highway open. Kurth said the number of structures destroyed has grown, as well.

“There’s somewhere between 50 and 100 structures that have been lost. That’s a very loose survey that’s been done by drive-by… but I do want to qualify that a structure could be as small as 40 square feet.” Structures could include greenhouses and even some chicken coops.

Kurth said firefighters who have been working so far are reaching fatigue limits, but new crews that had just arrived would soon be on scene.