11pm Update
The Funny River Fire currently has a crew of around 70 fire fighters battling a blaze estimated at over 1,000 acres. The Division of Forestry says no structures appear to be threatened.
The Village of Tyonek has been evacuated, with roughly 150 residents fleeing their homes. That fire is now believed to be around 200 acres. Most residents are taking shelter in a camp on the beach, though some elders were flown to Anchorage or Kenai.
The Division of Forestry’s Andy Alexandrou said anyone with questions about the fire can contact the Division…
Alexandrou: “There’s a website and it’s got many different avenues for fire information and you can go to akfireinfo.com and that is one good avenue to pursue for information. I have a direct fire line here that is 260-4261. And another website that would take you into the world of fire in Alaska is fire.ak.blm.gov.”
Alexandrou said strong winds around Funny River on Tyonek have been causing problems for fire fighters, though the winds appear to be dying down now…
Alexandrou: “We refer to this as a ‘wind-drive event’ and it will increase that fire exponentially in acreage until the wind subsides.”
10:30pm Update
The Division of Forestry has stated that the fire south of Funny River Road has grown to 960 acres but is not moving towards any structures or residences. A fire in Tyonek was reported at 80 as of the latest official figures.
Rumors of an evacuation of Funny River Road were spreading through social media, but the Forestry’s Andy Alexandrou shot those down.
Alexandrou: “If you’re wondering about it, it’s a rumor regarding evacuation of Funny River.”
He stated that the fire is continuing towards Tustamena Lake and there are no visible structures in its way at this time.
We asked Alexandrou about the cause of the fire…
Alexandrou: “We do know that it’s an area that is used by people, a recreational area, it’s a wood-cutting area from days gone by, good easy access for getting in there by foot or ATV, so we don’t know what the official cause is, but we do know people use that in a recreational manner year-round. So we suspect that it was probably a human-caused fire.”
Over at the Nikiski Fire Department, Chief James Baisden said all their efforts are on the Tyonek Fire…
Chief Baisden: “The location of Tyonek right now, we don’t have good contact with them right now and they’re working the fire. Our last report it was at 80 acres. We’ve got 10 fire fighters from Nikiski and 8 from Beluga Fire Department along with Forestry. We got smoke jumpers on the scene and they’re doing drops from the air, so it sounds like we’ve got a pretty good crew on it at this time.”
Baisden said the Nikiski Fire Department was joined by Mat-Su crews as the village of Tyonek was evacuated…
Chief Baisden: “Right now with the high winds that we’ve got, just like everybody sees on the Peninsula, it would be dangerous to get ahead of the fire, so what you’ll see is they’ll be doing an indirect attack and moving in from the flanks, trying to get control of this if they can.”
If you are concerned about the safety of your home, make sure to clear your yard of debris. As an extra precaution, lay a wide strip of gravel between your home and any nearby woodlands.
We will continue to update this story as information becomes available.
8:30pm Update
Multiple fire agencies are currently responding to a 10-15 acre fire south of the Soldotna Airport that was reported around 4:30 this afternoon.
Andy Alexandrous said that fire was originally reported at around two acres.
Alexandrous: Presently there’s about 50 firefighters out on that fire, forestry personnel as well as Central Emergency Services. The fire is adjacent to the Swanson River Horse Trail and its burning to the south of Funny River Road. Last reported burning at 10-15 acres, there’s two dozers putting a perimeter around the fire or starting to, DNR forestry helicopter plus an additional helicopter is en route, the helicopters have been doing some bucket work around the perimeter of the fire.”
He said that the fire is continuing to burn away from residences.
Original report:
Crews are responding to a report of a fire 3 miles south of Soldotna airport along the Funny River Horse Trail.
Kenai area forestry engines and the Chena Interagency Hotshot crew are on scene and helicopters are working with buckets.
Central Emergency Services is providing water support at Mile 6 and the Division of forestry says to use caution in the area.
Division of Forestry reports that there don’t appear to be residences nearby at this time and the fire is around two acres.
We will continue to update this story as information becomes available
