Rain offers Interior Alaska's fire crews a needed break

Rain is on the way, and for Interior Alaska's stretched fire crews, that's the best news in weeks. A strong low-pressure system should bring rain, cooler air, and less lightning across the Interior through the weekend — a real break after a relentless run of fires, though the northeast could still see thunderstorms Saturday before it clears.

The rain can't come fast enough. Crews are still mid-fight on a string of fires where the priority is protecting what matters most — homes, cabins, Native allotments, and fish camps. Near Rampart, crews are close to wrapping point protection around allotments and a fish camp threatened by the 1,000-acre Canyon Fire. Outside Allakaket, smokejumpers and aircraft are working the Kanuti Fire near a Native allotment, in country one fire official called "notoriously resistant to control" because it burns deep into the peat. And along the Dalton Highway near Bettles, crews are making good progress lining the Mailbox Fire.

A handful of smaller fires are already turning the corner: the Smally Fire near half-contained, the Hutlitakwa fully contained, and crews gridding out hotspots across the Elliott Complex. If the forecast holds, the weekend's weather may do what the crews have been fighting all week to accomplish.