Polly Fire crews shift to structure protection along Fortymile River

Crews working the Polly Fire have shifted from active suppression to protecting structures along the Fortymile River, after Sunday rain reduced the fire to a single visible finger of smoke, according to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service.

The Alaska Range Suppression Module from Denali National Park and Preserve is scouting known sites along the river Monday. The module plans to set up structure protection at one site and assess what it would take to protect a second if fire threatens it. Cabins, fish camps, and Native allotments are located along the Fortymile River corridor. In prior operations along the Fortymile, crews have used boat transport to reach structures and allotments for point protection work. Last summer, four smokejumpers were deployed to protect structures along the Fortymile from a fire burning 34 miles south of Eagle, and a wildland fire module used boat transport to continue that point protection work before the effort concluded in mid-July 2025.

The Polly Fire was detected June 20 following abundant lightning. It sits about 21 miles north of Chicken and 35 miles south of Eagle.

A U.S. Forest Service uncrewed aircraft system module from Boise is also assigned to the fire. Rain grounded the drone Sunday. If skies clear Monday, the unit will fly an infrared mapping mission along the fire perimeter to locate remaining hotspots.

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service is urging motorists on the Taylor Highway near milepost 110 to yield to firefighting traffic and not stop on the highway in the fire area. The agency notes that thunderstorm activity is expected to be minimal in the coming days, but the potential for lightning remains in the Alaska Range and the Fortymile Country.

Statewide, cooler and wetter weather has reduced fire activity across multiple incidents. Work is concluding on many of the 13 staffed fires managed by the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, with crews demobilizing or transitioning fires to monitor status.

For more information, contact Public Information Officer Joan Kluwe at [email protected] or (907) 356-5510.