Tok fire's south end contained, but Midnight Sun stays evacuated about another week

The south end of the Mukluk Fire near Tok is now contained, officials said at a community meeting Sunday, but the Midnight Sun neighborhood will stay under a mandatory evacuation order for about another week. The area remains too dangerous to return to: fire-weakened standing trees, downed power lines, hazardous materials in burned structures and hidden ash pits are all potentially deadly.

The evacuation lifts by area, not by a set date. Crews are clearing fire-damaged trees within 50 feet of homes and off driveways across the roughly 860-acre affected zone, and the state says residents can't return until that work is finished — likely by next weekend, though officials cautioned they won't make promises and it could go faster. Just over half an inch of rain fell Sunday morning, which crews hoped would speed things along. As of Sunday, about 350 people were assigned to the fire, most of them firefighters, with two crews arriving from California over the weekend.

Restoring power is part of the work, too. The utility, AP&T, says two lines need full rebuilding, and it is assembling temporary-power kits to get electricity back before winter. The incident team is escorting utility crews into cleared areas so power can be restored before residents return.

A state Disaster Assistance Center has opened at the Tok Visitor Center for residents whose homes or property burned. Individual assistance is capped at $22,400 for housing and another $22,400 for other needs, and applications close Oct. 19.