Mukluk Fire crews shift to southwest flank ahead of Sunday wind change

Fire crews shifted to the southwest edge of the Mukluk Fire on Saturday, bracing for northwesterly winds forecast over the burn area Sunday. They pulled personnel off the western flank of the fire at Tok and reinforced the sector known as Division Whiskey.

"We've got trees that are going to want to topple over and residual heat in here," the operations chief with the Alaska Incident Management Team said in Saturday's operational briefing. "So you'll see today an increased presence in there with responders."

Evacuation levels did not change. Level 3 GO orders remain in effect north of the Alaska Highway from Mackenzie Trail to East 5th Street. Residents told the CBC that ongoing evacuations and structure losses make the situation more dangerous than containment percentages suggest.

The fire started near Sundog Trail off the Alaska Highway shortly before noon on Aug. 17. Alaska News previously covered damage to about 20 homes in Tok, some belonging to firefighters. Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration. The Alaska Complex Incident Management Team #1 took command Thursday morning.

"We did, we did put some containment on the map yesterday over on the east side where the fire burned into the 1990 Tok Burn," the operations chief said. Dozer line now runs along that flank. Heat remains on the far east finger toward the Tanana River, where dozer line reaches nearly to the river.

On the west side, dozers pushed north and tied the line into marshier, less burnable vegetation where the fire had hung itself up. That work freed managers to move resources south.

Two crews arrived Friday: Gannett Glacier and Fairbanks 1, both back from assignments in the Lower 48. Crews found and secured spot fires along the Tanana River. Unmanned aircraft were set to fly the area Saturday, and cabins near Old River Road were to receive protection measures.

Work continues around the remaining structures between Red Fox and Sundog Trail, where responders are handling burning tires, plastics and other debris. That hazard "presents, certainly a, a risk to any public that goes back in there and tries to take, um, you know, any independent action around their properties," the operations chief said.

Warmer, drier conditions were expected to raise fire activity Saturday after two nights of rain. The operations chief said things are moving in the right direction and that managers feel good about their position, while readying to be tested by Sunday's winds.