With the state’s second-worst wildland fire season looming large in Alaskans’ memories, Governor Mike Dunleavy has proclaimed Wildland Fire Prevention and Preparedness Week to help reduce the risk of a replay this summer.
The Governor, along with fire managers with the Alaska Division of Forestry, is urging Alaskans to take personal responsibility for helping prevent human-caused wildfires this summer, to prevent a repeat of fires that consumed nearly 2.6 million acres of land, and destroyed almost 60 homes last year.
Governor Dunleavy, in a Tuesday statement: “As we witnessed last year and in previous years, wildfires pose a dangerous and costly threat to communities, infrastructure and natural resources in Alaska. Mother Nature starts enough wildfires in Alaska each summer with lightning; she doesn’t need any help from us.”
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is adding an extra layer of uncertainty for this wildland firefighting season. Alaska has historically relied heavily on assistance from
Lower 48 firefighting personnel to help contain wildfires, importing more than 5,000 last year. But the ongoing health crisis has brought travel restrictions and quarantine requirements that will likely reduce the number of resources available from the Lower 48.
Those concerns prompted the Division of Forestry to impose a burn permit suspension for much of the state on May 1, to reduce the risk of human-caused fires. The Governor urged Alaskans to adhere to the burn permit suspension, which prohibits the use of burn barrels, open debris burning, and lawn burning.