Yenlo Fire crews defend cabin, equipment as 53-acre blaze nears Skwentna

Firefighters defended a cabin, shipping container, and heavy equipment as the 53-acre Yenlo Fire burned through remote property 14 miles north of Skwentna and 2 miles west of Mount Yenlo, the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection reported Wednesday.

The fire reached 90 percent containment by Wednesday after 34 firefighters from the Pioneer Peak Hotshot Crew and Alaska Smokejumpers worked through Tuesday night cutting sawline and laying hose around the perimeter. Light rain Wednesday helped crews locate and extinguish remaining hot spots.

The Division of Forestry received reports of the fire around 5 p.m. Tuesday after a passing pilot had spotted the blaze about 41 miles southwest of Talkeetna. Helitack crews from Palmer Area Forestry found it actively burning in grass, brush, scattered spruce, and standing dead spruce with single-tree torching. The fire was moving toward a cabin and heavy equipment when aerial resources arrived.

Two water scoopers, a retardant tanker, and helicopters conducting bucket drops slowed the fire's growth while ground crews worked the perimeter. Air Attack coordinated the aerial response. An unmanned aerial system with infrared cameras guided firefighters to heat sources Wednesday as they gridded the burned area.

An unstable weather pattern was forecast to move into the western Susitna Valley bringing afternoon showers and isolated wet thunderstorms, with high temperatures in the upper 60s and lows in the lower 40s through the end of the week.

Alaska Smokejumpers will return to their Fort Wainwright base Thursday. Pioneer Peak Hotshot Crew is scheduled to demobilize Friday after securing the fire and preparing equipment. The Division of Forestry said this would be the final update unless conditions change significantly.