Wildfire prompts evacuations, road closure

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A wildfire that quickly flared to more than 1,700 acres near Tok on Wednesday evening prompted state officials to evacuate two small communities and to close a 26-mile stretch of the Alaska Highway.

The state Division of Forestry said the Eagle Trail Fire was threatening two structures in its path but that they had not yet been damaged.

The communities of Tanacross and the Eagle Subdivision were evacuated as a precaution because the fire could encroach upon them, said Dave Stancliff, spokesman for the Forestry Division. The school in Tok was opened as a shelter for any displaced residents, he said.

The highway was closed from Tok to Cathedral Bluffs 26 miles to the west because of concerns the fire could jump the road. When it was reported by a private aircraft about 5 p.m. the fire was 5 acres and a quarter mile south of the highway.

Fire officials late Wednesday night reported that the fire jumped to the north side of the highway, where firefighters were working to contain 20 acres that were burning.

It wasn't clear Wednesday night when the highway would reopen.

The fire was west of Tok near the entrance road to Tanacross in an area that hasn't burned in 100 years, Stancliff said.

"If the winds should shift, it could threaten a number of homes in the community," he said. "Right now the winds are favorable and blowing the fire away from Tok to the west and we're hoping that it will also miss Tanacross, but we don't know at this point."

According to the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs, there are about 200 residents in Tanacross. Stancliff estimated the Eagle Subdivision has between 10 and 15 homes.

Two 20-man crews were on the fire Wednesday night, though Stancliff said he expected the number of firefighters to increase rapidly. All the available dozers were working on the fire and a helicopter and all available tankers in the state had been ordered to fight the conflagration from the air.

"There's going to be a lot of attention put on this fire because it's so close to Tanacross," Stancliff said.

Winds were blowing fairly briskly in the area Wednesday night as crews were preparing to settle in for a long night battling the blaze.

Conditions in the Interior have been hot and dry in recent days, creating ideal conditions for wildfires. There have also been a number of recent lightning strikes, prompting officials to think the fire might have been caused that way.