A 2-acre brush fire that burned in the heart of Anchorage's Campbell Creek Greenbelt Saturday likely began at a homeless camp in the area, fire officials said Sunday, the same day they issued a warning of growing fire danger across the city.
With hot, dry, windy weather in the forecast, fire officials warned in a statement Sunday of "increasingly dangerous fire conditions" Sunday into Monday and advised people to "use extreme caution."
Monday and Tuesday will bring gusty winds and warm temperatures to the Anchorage area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kimberly Hoeppner.
Winds out of the southeast could gust to 20-30 mph starting Monday afternoon and increasing overnight and into Tuesday, she said. The NWS was calling for temperatures into the upper 60s on Monday.
"This weather could increase the fire behavior of an initiating wildfire, adding to the already challenging firefighting conditions" across the city, the Anchorage Fire Department statement said.
All burning in Anchorage has been suspended.
Saturday's brush fire burned about 2 acres of woods along the Campbell Creek Greenbelt near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Elmore Road. The fire was extinguished by 7 p.m. Saturday. There were no injuries or damage to buildings reported.
While an initial investigation suggests the wildfire was linked to a homeless camp, officials are still trying to determine exactly how it started, said AFD Deputy Chief Jodie Hettrick.