Cooler temperatures over the weekend have helped firefighters make progress battling major wildfires in the Mat-Su and on the Kenai Peninsula, but still-parched conditions, lightning, and humans ignoring burn bans sparked more than 67 new fires around the state this weekend, mostly in the Interior, the Alaska Division of Forestry said Sunday.
Some 2,006 firefighters -- 883 from in-state -- are in Alaska right now fighting fire, said Forestry public information officer Tim Mowry.
Their highest-priority fires remain the Sockeye and Card Street fires, which have destroyed homes in Willow and the Sterling area, respectively. The Sockeye fire was 79 percent contained Sunday night, according to the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team. Crews are being released as the containment percentages go up, but firefighters are still chasing pockets of fuel on the blaze's western perimeter, Mowry said.
"The weather has moderated on that fire, it's really helped them make some progress," he said.
The Parks Highway, which the Sockeye fire jumped on its first day, is expected to be open without checkpoints for motorists Monday, he said.
Overcast, cooler weather on the Kenai Peninsula has given fire crews a chance to secure more of the fire line on the Card Street fire, which is currently 20 percent contained, Mowry said.
Two fires in the Cooper Landing area on Forest Service land are also being attacked by fire crews, Mowry said, with good results.
A 28,889 acre fire in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is being allowed to burn, though structures like National Park Service cabins are being protected. The fire has grown 11,500 acres in two days.
Continued hot, dry weather paired with lightning strikes -- 8,000 statewide Saturday, according to Mowry, led to a host of new fires, most of them in the Interior, small and in remote areas.
"We popped a bunch of new fires last night," he said.
Some 50 of those fires were due to lightning strikes. The other 17 were caused by human activity.
"That's a pretty high number considering there's a burn closure still in effect," he said. "It's gonna take a really good wetting rain before those closures are lifted."