Alaska and Canadian crews fight a wildfire across the border

Firefighters from Alaska and Canada are working opposite sides of the international border on a 20- to 30-acre wildfire about 3 miles south of the Alcan Highway.

The Little John Fire drew its first response the evening of Aug. 1, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. It is burning in spruce, tussock and tundra, with denser timber along its eastern edge near a lake.

After Alaska crews made the first bucket drops, Canadian bucket operations joined from their side. U.S. firefighters are securing the fire's northern flank while Canadian crews work the south, laying hose line along the boundary. With good weather forecast, crews planned to keep building containment lines and then shift to mop-up, searching for hidden heat.

There are no evacuations and no impacts to the Alcan Highway.

It is not the first fire along this stretch of border. Last August, a lightning-caused half-acre fire near the Alcan Border Patrol station was doused by a helicopter bucket. In the dense spruce here, fire potential holds until season-ending rain or snow.