If you're heading out camping on Memorial Day weekend, fire officials say, it's important to be cautious. Dry weather has created dangerous fire conditions for much of Southcentral Alaska.
"Things in Southcentral are still extremely dry due to the lack of precipitation so far this spring/summer so people still need to be careful with anything that could start a fire, such as campfires, debris burning, shooting firearms, riding four-wheelers, cutting firewood, etc," Division of Forestry spokesman Tim Mowry wrote in an email.
In Eagle River and the Anchorage Hillside, Anchorage Fire Department spokesperson John See said, fire dangers are extremely high. On Friday, there was a burn permit suspension for the Municipality of Anchorage but that could change daily, See said.
Forecasters are predicting a chance of precipitation in Southcentral this weekend but that doesn't mean the dangerous fire conditions will go away, according to Mowry.
For daily fire condition updates in the Municipality of Anchorage, click here, or call 267-5020. For fire conditions outside Anchorage, call the Division of Forestry information line at 356-5511 or your local forestry office.