Anchorage Daily News

Fueled by hot, bone-dry weather, wildfires have taken off across the state this week, smothering much of it in a haze of smoke as they consume thousands of acres of forest.

The thickening cloud of smoke in Anchorage on Wednesday prompted city officials to declare a health advisory late in the afternoon for people with health sensitivities.

"There's several fires sort of ringing Southcentral, and actually, quite a bit of that smoke is crossing the Alaska Range and heading down south," state Division of Forestry spokesman Matt Weaver said.

By far the largest and potentially most dangerous fire is the Minto Flats South fire burning untamed about 13 miles northwest of Nenana. By Wednesday it had consumed more than 125,000 acres and was threatening nearly 70 structures and outbuildings as well as a drilling rig, according to the forestry division.

More than 190 firefighters, including some from the Lower 48, were on the defensive against that lightning-sparked blaze Wednesday, most of their effort focusing on protecting the properties, Weaver said.

Nine new fires broke out Tuesday, bringing to 70 the number of active fires reported across the state. Seven of them were staffed with firefighters, according to the forestry division.

The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center reported 363 fires have burned 629,730 acres so far this year. At this time last year, 267 fires had burned 24,912 acres.

Anchorage, which for days has been under a veil of smoke from fires burning in just about all directions, has not escaped the action. Fire department forester Sue Rodman said some two dozen brush fires have broken out around town since Friday, all of which have been caused by humans.

The latest flare-up occurred in Tikishla Park just before 1 p.m. Wednesday. The fire, estimated at between a half acre to one acre, was reported off a bike trail near 20th Avenue and Rosemary Street. Firefighters descended on it in force because of the dry conditions, department spokeswoman Cleo Hill said.

Firefighters on the ground moved in on the fire with hoses and engines and in minutes knocked down flames bursting up lengths of black spruce, Rodman said.

A department helicopter was called in and was dropping loads of water on the smoldering and charred woods Wednesday afternoon as crews on the ground stirred water into the dry woodland floor. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

A high-pressure system lingering over Southcentral -- causing the high temperatures and keeping the haze in place -- was expected to weaken and shift in coming days, National Weather Service forecaster Bill Ludwig said.

"Cooler temperatures are right around the corner. Rain is going to be another story," Ludwig said. "There are going to be some showers in inland areas basically north of Anchorage and east of Anchorage, mainly confined to the mountains, and then some of them are going to be thunderstorms, which could actually start more fires."

Winds were expected to shift on the Kenai Peninsula, which could help drive up humidity there and help combat the Shanta Creek fire, burning at 2,250 acres Wednesday, he said.

The conditions have prompted state forestry officials to suspend permits for open burning on the Kenai and in the Mat-Su, both of which were experiencing high fire danger. The Anchorage Fire Department likewise reported "very high" fire danger here and was asking residents to be wary of the danger. Burning within the city was prohibited Wednesday because of the danger.

The Chugach Mountains have for days been obscured by a thick blanket of smoky haze, but for the first time this week the acrid smell of smoke accompanied it Wednesday. The air quality in Anchorage was "moderate" bordering on "unhealthy for sensitive groups," said Steve Morris, the city's air quality program manager.

That prompted the Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services to declare a health advisory because of the smoke. People with asthma, lung or heart problems were asked to avoid strenuous exertion while the alert is in effect.

"Current measurements indicate that air quality is varying from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive individuals," Morris said. "The National Weather Service has predicted that transport of smoke into the Anchorage area is likely to persist for a day or more."

Elsewhere across Southcentral, the state Department of Environmental Conservation was reporting overall air quality in the region was good to moderate, with some areas experiencing periods unhealthy for sensitive people. Smoke from the Chakina Fire in the Copper River Basin was drifting as far south as Valdez and Seward, the agency said.

The Minto Flats South, Zitziana and Bear Creek fires were adversely impacting air quality in the Interior. The DEC reported conditions there were good to moderate, though air quality near the fires could at times be unhealthy.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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