Fire investigation opens at Milepost 4 of Edgerton Highway

A wildfire investigation opened Saturday night at Milepost 4 of the Edgerton Highway, the primary access route to Chitina, the McCarthy Road, and the Copper River salmon fisheries.

The Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection logged the incident as wildfire 1156 under the name MP 4 Edgerton Hwy at 9:32 PM Saturday (21:32 UTC). The fire remains at 0.00 acres and is classified as a fire investigation, according to the AK Fire Info system. The incident record was last updated at 9:58 PM Saturday (21:58 UTC).

The Edgerton Highway is a roughly 33-mile state-maintained highway that runs east from the Richardson Highway near Tonsina to Chitina. The highway serves as the principal road access to Chitina and to the McCarthy Road, which continues toward McCarthy and Kennecott in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The corridor also supports commercial salmon fisheries that rely on the highway for moving fish and supplies from the Copper River region.

The investigation is the latest in a statewide cluster of wildfire investigations that have opened across Alaska in recent days. Earlier coverage documented nine investigations in four days earlier this week and 11 investigations during another four-day period as Red Flag Warnings signaled critical fire conditions.