In this Sunday, June 7, 2015 photo, smoke rises from the Bogus Creek Fire, one of two fires burning in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Alaska. Fire managers said Monday that weekend rain helped tamp down the fires which, together, total about 63 square miles. (Matt Snyder/Alaska Division of Forestry via AP)

In this Sunday, June 7, 2015 photo, smoke rises from the Bogus Creek Fire, one of two fires burning in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Alaska. Fire managers said Monday that weekend rain helped tamp down the fires which, together, total about 63 square miles. (Matt Snyder/Alaska Division of Forestry via AP)

Fire crews battling 2 large tundra wildfires

  • By Rachel D'oro
  • Monday, June 8, 2015 10:42pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — Following a winter marked by little snow and warmer temperatures, fire crews on Monday were tackling two large wildfires burning on mostly treeless tundra in the southwest part of the state.

Weekend rain helped tamp down the lightning-caused fires that through Monday have burned 63 square miles in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, about 50 miles northeast of the commercial hub town of Bethel.

Alaska gets fewer fires in tundra than in forests, and tundra fires tend to be smaller, but they are not unheard of, according to Fish and Wildlife Service fire ecologist Lisa Saperstein.

Tundra fires are more common in southwest Alaska, but rare in the far north, she said. In 2007, a lightning-caused fire burned 400 square miles in the Brooks Range in the North Slope in an area where lightning is an anomaly.

The current fires are burning about 400 miles south of where the 2007 fire took place. Both fires are located in a biologically dynamic area where waterfowl nest, Saperstein said.

“There’s lots of vegetation,” she said. “And where you have vegetation, it’s fuel.”

According to a 2013 report by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, climate change could be a factor in a growing number of fires in tundra ecosystems over the next century.

Since the current tundra fires are not threatening people or buildings, crews were expecting to depart from one of the fires on Monday and continue mopping up hotspots at the other larger blaze, fire information spokesman Tim Mowry said.

Many Alaska wildfires are allowed to burn themselves out without crews if they are remote and far from any infrastructure. The bigger of the two fires, for example, had grown to 39 square miles by Monday, but crews were not immediately assigned to fight it until it had grown to almost half that size, Mowry said.

The amount of snow that falls during winter can expose an area to higher risk of fire because there is less moisture in the ground.

“But you still need something to ignite it,” Saperstein noted.

More in News

Erin Thompson (courtesy)
Erin Thompson to serve as regional editor for Alaska community publications

Erin Thompson is expanding her leadership as she takes on editorial oversight… Continue reading

A woman stands with her sign held up during a rally in support of Medicaid and South Peninsula Hospital on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Homer, Alaska. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)
Homer residents rally in support of South Peninsula Hospital and Medicaid

The community gathered on Wednesday in opposition to health care cuts that threaten rural hospitals.

Hunter Kirby holds up the hatchery king salmon he bagged during the one-day youth fishery on the Ninilchik River on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Ninilchik, Alaska. Photo by Mike Booz
Ninilchik River closed to sport fishing

The closure is in effect from June 23 through July 15.

Señor Panchos in Soldotna, Alaska, is closed on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna restaurant owner remains in ICE custody; federal charges dropped

Francisco Rodriguez-Rincon was accused of being in the country illegally and falsely claiming citizenship on a driver’s license application.

Brent Johnson speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough to provide maximum funding for school district

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will receive less money from the state this year than it did last year.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School on Tuesday.
Pools, theaters, libraries in jeopardy as cuts loom

The district issued “notices of non-retention” to all its pool managers, library aides and theater technicians.

A sockeye salmon is pictured in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Fishing slow on Russian River, improving on Kenai

Northern Kenai fishing report for Tuesday, June 17.

Josiah Kelly, right, appears for a superior court arraignment at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Anchor Point man accepts plea deal for November shootings

Buildings operated by a local health clinic and an addiction recovery nonprofit were targeted.

Most Read