With recent Mount Spurr activity, the City of Kenai is taking precautions for a potential eruption. The Kenai Fire Department is communicating with local, state, and federal authorities as the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) continues to track seismic activity and other indicators of volcanic behavior on Mount Spurr. While current data does not support certainty of an impending eruption at this time, the City of Kenai is committed to staying prepared and will continue to follow expert guidance.
Chief Jay Teague of the Kenai Fire Department says it’s rare that an eruption will significantly impact the Kenai Peninsula area.
“It would be a very rare situation that we would have any significant impacts from an eruption with Spurr. There’s been, you know, two previous eruptions there in the last century and it’s had very minimal impact on the Kenai Peninsula area.” Cheif Teague says.
He recommends to not overreact, yet “be on the side of caution and have some preparation done beforehand.”
“Recommendation one, don’t overreact. Recommendation two, have the small things handy at home like a respirator mask that’s like N95 rated.” Cheif Teague says. “Just be prepared for the potential. If the winds were blowing our direction, you could have trace amounts of ash particles that land on your vehicle and it just gets everywhere. It’s more of a nuisance than anything, having to dust your window sills and things like that.”
Should conditions lead to ash fall or air quality concerns, the City will provide guidance to residents on safety measures.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management held a meeting for local agencies to pre-plan, communicate to the public, and review past prepared plans for ash clouds and how they might affect the Peninsula.
Teague says, “AVO is still on the fence on whether or not it’ll erupt. There’s definitely some activity increase on the mountain, but that does happen quite often with the volcanoes in Alaska, and then they don’t end up erupting.”
The City encourages residents to sign up for local emergency alerts at https://info.kpb.us/
They also advise folks to review emergency plans and have essential supplies such as medications and masks on hand. The American Red Cross also has tips on preparing for a volcano.
Residents can check the Mount Spurr’s latest activity at https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/spurr.
The City will continue monitoring conditions and sharing information as needed and available.
For non-emergency questions about preparedness, contact the Kenai Fire Department at (907) 283-7666.
