Fifty homes destroyed at Tok in Alaska's lightest burn year since 1995

Fifty families in Tok lost their houses to a fire that started with a downed power line, in a summer when less of Alaska burned than in any year since 1995.

An updated state assessment released Aug. 30 confirmed 50 single residences destroyed by the Mukluk Fire, along with 108 sheds, garages and workshops. The fire has burned 7,335 acres since it started Aug. 17 and is 29 percent contained.

Tok and Delta had been hot and dry all summer without much happening. What changed was the wind. "We hadn't had wind," Rob Allen told a community meeting in Tok on Aug. 18, and that was the piece that turned a hot dry summer into a fire that took a neighborhood.

About 88,700 acres burned across the whole state through Aug. 31. Mukluk accounts for roughly 8 percent of that, and it was the second-largest fire of the year, behind the Tatlanika Fire east of Anderson at 38,400 acres. Alaska and the Yukon together burned less this year than in any year since 1977. Climate specialist Rick Thoman's season recap, published Thursday, suggests the season stayed small partly because the heat never held long enough to dry out boreal ground cover — and calls Mukluk one of the most destructive fires in Alaska history for its effect on people.

The cause investigation is not finished. The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection is leading it, with technical support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Evacuation orders lifted Aug. 29. Burn debris can hold ash, sharp metal and chemicals, and the state's emergency management division is putting together a debris removal plan for property owners. Officials have asked people to hold off on sending donations and supplies until local organizations say what Tok actually needs, because a community this size is easily overwhelmed. Tok area forestry manager Frank Robbins said many people were affected by the suppression work itself and that the agency wants to work with landowners on repairs.

Fire season has been extended through Sept. 14 in the Delta, Tok and Copper River protection areas, and burn permits are suspended at Tok entirely, which means no burning at all. The fire information line is (907) 505-0362, staffed 8 am to 8 pm.