Fire crews to burn debris piles on Interior Army training lands through Oct. 31

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Army Garrison Alaska are scheduled to begin burning woody debris piles on military lands in Interior Alaska. The burns could start as soon as Tuesday, Oct. 6, and continue through Oct. 31 as conditions allow. Smoke may be visible on Fort Wainwright. It may also be visible from the Richardson Highway northeast of Eielson Air Force Base and from Chena Hot Springs Road, according to the agencies.

Crews will burn at three sites. On Fort Wainwright, the piles sit near Sage Hill in the northeast corner of the main post. In the Yukon Training Area, piles sit at Moose Creek and the Husky Drop Zone, northeast and east of Eielson. In the Donnelly Training Area, one pile sits in a gravel pit in the Jarvis Training Area, close to Banjo Lake south of Delta Junction.

The agencies said the piles were built over the past several summers as part of an ongoing effort to reduce hazardous fuels and improve access to key training areas. Most piles were built by fire service crews from unsalvageable woody debris left over from that work.

The agencies said crews will light the piles only when weather conditions will minimize smoke over populated areas. The burns fall under open burn approvals issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The fire service and the garrison are working with the department and the National Weather Service to forecast and monitor smoke.

In April, the fire service announced what it called annual prescribed burning of dead grass on the Donnelly and Yukon training areas and at Fort Wainwright, planned for May.