In the first two weeks after the State Department of Natural Resources announced an early start to the wildland fire season, two fires have been reported and contained on the Kenai Peninsula.

A March 6 public order says that warm temperatures and low snowpack “raise the risk of wildland fire ahead of the statutorily designated fire season,” which usually starts April 1. That order was effective for much of Southcentral and Southeast Alaska, including the Kenai Peninsula.

Set to be effective on March 17, the order means that burn permits are required for all state, private and municipal lands.

Though local fire season began, per the order, on March 17, the first local fire was reported on March 13. According to the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Dashboards, the “Venture” fire was reported just off the roadway near Milepost 141 of the Sterling Highway. That’s located near Stariski Ridge Road on the southern peninsula between Happy Valley and Anchor Point.

A State Division of Forestry and Fire Protection engine responded, the report says, but the fire had been contained and controlled by Western Emergency Services before their arrival.

The second fire, called the “Scout Lake” fire, was reported around 5 p.m. on March 17. It was located near the intersection of West Scout Lake Loop and Lou Morgan Road, between Soldotna and Sterling. Responding vehicles from the division found “five unattended burn piles, smoldering with some escapement into the wildland.” The fires weren’t declared contained and controlled until around 8 p.m.

Both fires were reported to be very small, around a tenth of an acre.

Small-scale burn permits can be acquired online from dnr.alaska.gov/burn. At that site, information can also be found about local conditions and restrictions.

A small-scale burn is a burn of one brush pile, the use of one burn barrel, or the burning of maintained lawn, the release said. Larger burns would require a large-scale permit, which requires site inspection, additional people, water or heavy equipment. Those permits can be acquired by contacting the Division of Forestry at forestry.alaska.gov.

For more information about local wildfires, visit akfireinfo.com.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.