Smokejumpers battle two wildfires near Ruby as smoke reaches village

Two dozen smokejumpers and a fleet of water-scooping aircraft are working two fires that flared up Friday just east of Ruby, racing to put them out completely before they can threaten the Yukon River village or the Native allotments nearby.

The Big and Cecil fires are burning less than a mile apart along Big Creek, about 11 miles from Ruby, and together cover roughly 660 acres. For now the news is mostly good: both were pushing southeast, away from the village and the allotments, and after an aggressive Friday — flames jumping treetop to treetop, embers throwing sparks ahead of the front — activity had calmed by midnight to scattered torching. More crews and aircraft were ordered for Saturday.

What's driving the all-out response is the land they're near. Both fires sit in a "full protection" zone, the designation that tells crews to suppress completely rather than monitor — reserved for ground where people, homes, and allotments are at stake. Smoke from both is visible from Ruby.