BLU LIBRARY

88054551

lent of the Interior

,d Management

BLM-Aiaska Open File Report 87

BLM/AK/ST-03/002+281 0+31 0
September 2003

Alaska State Office

222 West 7th Avenue, #13

Anchorage, Alaska 99513

JK

870

.L3

06

no. 87

C.2

Wildfires in Alaska in the 1980s

Compiled from Annual Fire Reports

of the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center

Andy Williams

The BLM Mission

The Bureau of Land Management sustains the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the
use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Editor . }

Andy Williams is a public affairs specialist with the Alaska Fire Service.

Open File Reports ''^ >,

Open File Reports issued by the Bureau of Land Management-Alaska present the results of inventories
or other investigations on a variety of scientific and technical subjects that are made available to the public
outside the formal BLM-Alaska technical publication series. These reports can include preliminary or
incomplete data and are not published and distributed in quantity.

The reports are available while supplies last from BLM External Affairs, 222 West 7th Avenue #13,
Anchorage, Alaska 99513 and from the Juneau Minerals Information Center, 100 Savikko Road,
Mayflower Island, Douglas, AK 99824, (907) 364-1553. Copies are also available for inspection at the
Alaska Resource Library and Information Service (Anchorage), the USDI Resources Library in Washing-
ton, D. C, various libraries of the University of Alaska, the BLM National Business Center Library (Denver)
and other selected locations.

A complete bibliography of all BLM-Alaska scientific reports can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.ak.blm.gov/affairs/sci_rpts.html. Related publications are also listed at http://juneau.ak.blm.gov.

t

<0

(^' .Li>

Wildfires in Alasl^a
in the 1980s

Andy Williams

o

BLM-Alaska Open File Report 87

September 2003

U. S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1980 Season Highlights 1

1981 Season Highlights 5

1982 Season Highlights 9

1983 Season Highlights 14

1984 Season Highlights 17

1985 Season Highlights 21

1986 Season Highlights 26

1987 Season Highlights 30

1988 Season Highlights.... 33

1989 Season Highlights 36

Summary for Calendar Years 1955-1989 39

1980 Season Highlights

The winter of 1979-80 was another in a series of mild winters that began in 1976. The evidence
of the dry winter and an equally dry spring started showing up in early May. The State of Alaska
battled a fire in the Delta Barley Project that started May 1 1 . The Bureau of Land Management
supported the State's effort but took no direct role on the fire. The fire ended up at 7,155 acres.

On May 5, smokejumpers attacked a persistent fire of unknown origin in a coal seam near
Eagle. After two weeks of fi:nstrating work, with very little rain, the decision was made to secure
the perimeter and let the coal seam bum.

The dry spring produced the worst fire of the year when two fires on military lands south of
Fairbanks combined and burned over 125,000 acres of military and state land. Although the fire
burned firom May 17 to mid- July, BLM's involvement ended in June. From May 17 to June 14,
BLM provided advisers to the military and some on-line personnel. On June 14, BLM was given
control of the fire. With a large commitment of equipment and persoimel and the first substantial
rains of the season, the BLM firefighters were able to contain the fire in five days. The fire was
released back to the military, and the BLM provided an adviser for another 10 days.

Another mihtary fu-e drew BLM forces in late May on the Yukon Training Site east of Eielson
Air Force Base. The fire was in an active impact range and therefore an indirect attack was used.
The fire was lined by bulldozers and left to bum out. The fire never threatened the dozer lines.
The final size was 2,850 acres.

Even though the fire season started out dry, the atmosphere that prevailed over Alaska was
generally stable, and the first lightning fire did not occur until June 15. ft was only a spot fire.

The only real lightning fire activity occurred from June 28 through June 30, when 19 hghtning
fires occurred. The fires were mostly in the Bettles and Eagle units. The peak day of lightning
fires was June 30 with 10 fires, a far cry firom 1979's peak day of 63 fires. The biggest fire in this
three-day period was three acres.

The rest of the fire season proved to be relatively quiet. Only a few fires had any potential, but
either rain hit them or large commitments of initial attack resources caught them before they could
take off.

In summary, other than the early military fires, 1980 was a very inactive fire year in the
Fairbanks District.

Alaska firefighters were involved in an intemational first in 1980. A Class I overhead team
made up of eight Alaskans, five from the Fairbanks District, was sent to Ontario, Canada, to assist
Canadian firefighters battling forest fires near Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was the first time an
overhead team fi-om the U.S. was used in Canada.

Anchorage

Fairbanks

75

132

128,074

128,206

84

1,459

111

1,686

21

180

1,591

128,301

129,892

1980 Statistics ~ Anchorage and Fairbanks Districts

Cause Number of Fires Total Acres Total

Anchorage Fairbanks
Human 19 56

Lightning 1 8 66

False Alarms
Total 37 122

Retardant

Phoschek Tenogum/Fire/Trol

Gallons 287,800 19,100

Assistance Dispatched to the Lower 48

Personnel; 30 Aircraft: 4

Assistance Received from the Lower 48

Personnel: 12

Aircraft

Fixed Wing Aircraft Used (Contract) 25

Fixed Wind Aircraft Used (Continuing Offer) 68

Total Fixed Wing Times (Contract & Rental) 5,428.35

Total Cost Fixed Wing (Contract & Rental) $2,829,336

Total Helicopter Times (Contract & Rental) 1 ,359. 1

Total Helicopter Cost $1,142,720

EFF Payroll

Gross wages: $507,631.71 No. hires: 436

1980 Facilities

Upgrading of facilities continued at several field stations throughout the Fairbanks District in
1980.

In the Chena Area, most of the work took place at Settles, Tanana and Fort Yukon.

At Settles, the mess hall trailer was made fiiUy operational. Solid walls and permanent roofs
were added to the tent frames.

At Fort Yukon, a new heliport was built. The remodeling of the interior of the Dispatch
Building was also completed.

At Tanana, the mess hall and wash trailer became operational. A dining area was built onto the
mess hall. The warehouse was moved out of St. James Mission and put into a leased FAA

warehouse.

In the Galena Area, a slow fire season allowed a great deal of facility work to be completed at
Galena and Dahl Creek. At Galena, the last 40 feet of the new warehouse was completed. One of
the upgraded tent frames was moved to the fenced security area behind the warehouse to be used
as a hazardous materials storage area. A physical fitness trail was built next to the station.

The biggest project of the year at Galena was the acquisition and rehabilitation of two
surplused Air Force barracks. One has been fully rehabed and will be ready for the start of the
1981 fire season. The other should be ready sometime during the 1981 season.

At Dahl Creek, siding work was completed on the buildings put up in the 1980 season.

There were no major facilities projects in the Fortymile Area in 1980.

1980 Special Projects

I. Fire Weather - Fuel Conditions Project

The purpose of this project was to more accurately describe the characteristics of Alaskan fuel
models in the National Fire Danger Rating System. The results of the study will help land
managers better appraise the fire potential developing fi-om weather pattems that occur during the
fire season.

The project was conducted mainly out of Melozi Hot Springs northeast of Ruby. Other fuel
samples were collected near McGrath. More data will be collected during the 1981 fire season to
check and upgrade the 1980 data. The project is a cooperative effort between BLM and the U.S.
Forest Service's Institute of Northern Forestry.

II Automatic Lightning Detection System

The ALDS system was improved and added to in 1980. A graphic display terminal showed on
a map where lightning was occurring and a graphics printer gave fire managers a hard copy map
for out-of-office use and for historical files.

III Fire Weather Contract

Due to budget constraints and duplication of efforts, the fire weather contract was dropped
after the 1980 fire season. It was decided that because of improving ALDS capability and
assistance from the National Weather Service, the contract service could be eliminated.

Fairbanks District Fire Organization
1980

Cfiief, Division of

Fire Management

G. Timmons

Fire Management
Officer
B. Hill

Fire Training
Officer
D. Walil

Galena Area FMO
R. Farinetfi

Dalil Creek

Unit FMO

B. Fox

Koyul<ul<
Unit FMO
R. Rliodes

Support

Foreman

R. McGatian

Galena Area

Fire Staff

Officer

B. Butler

Area Logistics Chief
R. Hollandsworth

Dispatctier
C. Ewell

Smokejumper

Project Leader

A. Dunton

Ctiief, Brancii

of Logistics

(Vacant)

Dispatch Mgr.
T. Frey

Chief, Branch of

Aviation Mgt.

(Vacant)

Logistics Mgr.
D. Barry

Chena Area FMO
(Vacant)

Central Unit FMO
B. Robertson

Ft. Yukon Unit FMO
C. Thomas

Dispatcher
M. Bole

Chena Area

Fire Staff Officer

M. Robertson

Detection
Specialist
K. Barker

Prevention
Technician
J. Wertam

Retardant
Foreman
0. Elam

Settles Unit FMO
(Vacant)

Dispatcher
W. Hunt

Goldstream Unit FMO
J. Ribar

Dispatcher
K. Parkan

Tanana Unit FMO
R. Krishnek

Dispatcher
Fbks. Disp.

Dispatcher
N. Waters

Fire Support
Assistant
(Vacant)

Dispatcher
M. Looney

Forlymile Resource

Area Manager
M. Green

Area Helitack
T. Latham

Area Roadside
R. Skarie

Fortymile Area

FMO

R. Malchow

Eagle Unit

FMO
J. Dixon

Tanker Foreman

Chicken

K. Sorenson

Tanker Foreman

Northway

C. Schaake

Tanacross
Unit FMO
R. Burritt

Area Disoatch

P

. O'Leary

R. Meyers

1981 Season Highlights

The 1981 fire season began in mid-March when a white phosphorus flare from military
exercises and a 70-mile-per-hour wind combined to cause a fire just south of Delta that grew to
10,500 acres in two days. The Bureau of Land Management sent several advisers to assist the
Army in their suppression efforts.

By the first of May all areas of the Fairbanks District were reporting very dry fuel conditions.
On May 18, lightning caused a fire in dry fuel conditions southwest of Nenana near Dune Lake.
The fire spread quickly, and by the second afternoon, it was realized that a massive commitment
would be necessary to stop the fire. The State of Alaska, as land owner, instructed the BLM to
discontinue fire suppression activities, as they felt the values at risk were not commensurate with
the high cost of suppression. BLM pulled off the fire, but within a week, the firefighters were back
on the fire fighting on two flanks. One flank protected Doyon Ltd. land and the other flank
protected Nenana Village Corporation land. With continued dry weather through June and a
stubborn fire, BLM firefighters and equipment were on the Dune Lake fire for more than a month.

The first lightning bust of the year was on May 31 with 16 fire starts, mostly in the Galena
Area. With a great deal of rain associated with the Ughtning and good use of jumpers and
retardant, all the fires were held below 15 acres. All were out and demobed in a few days.

The busiest new fire start period of the season was between Jime 1 1 and June 22, when 82
lightning fires occurred, including several large project fires in the Galena and Chena Areas. The
project fires required large commitments of people and equipment, and the Fairbanks District was
soon depleted. The Anchorage District was also experiencing heavy fire activity and unable to
offer much assistance. A request was sent to the Boise Interagency Fire Center, and the Fairbanks
District received 117 smokejumpers, 82 overhead, six 20-person crews, 10 radio technicians, three
retardant planes, and several plane loads of equipment.

The fires from June 1 1 to June 22 caused one Class 1 fire, two Class 2 fires, and eight Class 3
fires. The Class 1 fire was near Livengood and was managed by an Interior Department overhead
team. The two Class 2 fires were near Hughes, where a Colorado overhead team was in charge;
and southwest of Fort Yukon, where a Montana overhead team was used. The eight Class Three
fires were split evenly with four in the Chena Area and four in the Galena Area.

The Fairbanks logistics center and warehouse were the main support point for these fires.
Support was also given to the State of Alaska for a fire near Glennallen that had an Interior
Department Class 1 overhead team. New fire starts compounded the problem of supporting
ongoing fires by diverting people and equipment to initial attack fires. By the end of June, all
support systems in the Fairbanks District were working at maximum capacity and the fires still
had the upper hand.

The weather systems through early and mid June wandered back and forth across the Interior,
causing extensive convective activity, but leaving only small amounts of rain. Finally, on June 26,
a strong low-pressure system was spotted near Wrangell Island north of Siberia. It was the first of
a series of cool, wet lows to move through the Interior, and signaled the end of what had looked
like a record fire year. From June 23 through the end of September, only 128 acres of land burned
due to new fires.

One big highlight of the season remained after the project fires were unstaffed. It was a request

by Canada for emergency firefighter crews for a fire near High Level, Alberta. The Fairbanks
District send 18 EFF crews, a smokejumper hand crew, and 1 1 overhead to the Canadian fire. The
Anchorage District sent nine EFF crews and four overhead. Large amounts of equipment and
supplies were also sent to support the crews at the fire. They stayed on the 255,000-acre fire six
weeks.

The cool, wet weather of July and August allowed the Fairbanks District to send assistance to
the Lower 48. Seventy-two smokejumpers, 48 firefighters, one cook, one overhead, one
warehouser and one Volpar airplane went south to help.

1981 Statistics -Anchorage and Fairbanks Districts

Cause

Number of Fires

Total

Acres

Total

Anchorage

Fairbanks

Anchorage Fairbanks

Human 32

47

79

563 2,559

3,122

Lightning 71

138

209

191,233 341,859

533,092

False Alarms

34

Total 103
Aircraft

185

322

191,796 344,418

536,214

Contract Continuing Offer Total

Fixed Wing 26 86 112

Helicopters 5 25 30

Passengers Hauled

Fixed wing 10,538
Helicopters 20,551

Pounds Hauled Hours Flown

3,445,819 5,549

1,733,438 2,078

Retardant

Fairbanks District: 665,400 gal.

Emergency Firefighter Payroll

Gross wages: $2,137,861.28 No. hires: 1,448

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Personnel: 123 Aircraft: 1

Assistance Received from the Lower 48

Personnel: 330 Aircraft: 4

Paracargo

438,540 lbs.

1981 Facilities

The 1981 fire season was extremely busy for the Fairbanks District's food service organization
at the Division of Fire Management. Food Service began on April 6 and ran through Sept. 11.
Food Services was provided not only at Fort Wainwright, but also extended from Tanacross to
Kiana and as far north as Galbraith Lake

Duties of the food service operation extended beyond providing for support of fire camps. They
included the Central Arctic Management Area project at Galbraith Lake and a Cadastral Survey
camp at Fort Yukon.

Food was provided at Galbraith Lake from June 21 through Aug. 15. Services included food,
kitchen, cooks and food service workers. Food service personnel were able to obtain experience in
a small kitchen, of the type maintained at fire outstations, and personnel in the field were provided
hot meals at the end of the day. A kitchen for the Cadastral Survey was in operation from Aug. 21
through Sept. 25.

Food Services opened what is believed to be the first field kitchen at a staging area at the Dune
Lake fire near Nenana. An important advantage of maintaining the kitchen was the availability of
hot meals on an as-needed basis.

An additional advantage to maintaining the field kitchen was the low cost of providing the
meals. Meals, on the average, were provided at the cost of $2.08 per meal.

During the peak of the fire season, the Fairbanks kitchen served a one-day total of 967 hot
meals and 160 box lunches. The Fairbanks kitchen served a season total of 42,054 meals, and
Galena provided a season total of 12,982 meals.

1981

Fairbanks DlBtrlcc
Division of Fire Managepient
Organization Chart

00

CHIEF, BUANCll OF
SUPPKJiSSlON
Alan Dimltjn

S FcfnllN ~(7f YhT
OPEUATlONli
Lee Enfilesby

SECTION OF SM)
TI'CII. SEKVICHS
Larry Vanderlinddn

DISTRICT MANAGER
Carl Johnson

CHIEF, DIV. FIRE MANAGEMENT
Gerry Tlininuns

IDIST. FIRE STAFF
OFFICER-Dlll mil
.""^ zz

FIRE TRAINING OFF,
Don Wahl

CHIEF, BRANCH OF

LOGISTICS
W. D. (Skip) Scott

DISPATCH MCU,
Tom Frey

LOGISTICS MGR.
Don Harry

_1

FORTYMILE AREA
MGR. -Mike Green

1

FORTYMILE FMO
Dick Halchow

T

FIRE STAFF OFF.
Bob Burrltt

CHIEF, BRANCH OF
AVIATION
Ron Dunton

CHENA FMO

Marv

Robertson

HELI. SPEC.
Vacant

GAI,ENA FMO
Ray Farlnottl

FIRE CONTROL OFF,
■Tne Ribar

FIRE STAFF OFF.
Bob Butler

FIXED WING MGR.
J Ira Ward

REM. SEN. MGR.
Vacant

SECTION OF
SUPPRESSION
Dave Llebeysbacb

1982 Season Highlights

•The 1982 fire season was the first year for the newly organized Alaska Fire Service. The
Alaska Fire Service is the only Department of the Literior fire suppression organization in Alaska:
AFS is responsible for providing fire suppression and related support services on Bureau of Land
Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and
Alaska Native corporate lands on a statewide basis in Alaska. The State of Alaska assumed
protection responsibility for state and private lands.

The 1982 fire season got off to a late start due to spring breakup being three to four weeks later
than usual. The late spring retarded the drying process considerably. An above-average amount of
moisture remained in the fiiels throughout the season. This high fuel moisture seemed to keep
fires fi"om spreading and made suppression efforts easier.

Jime 17 saw the first day of multiple fire occurrence. The fire bust lasted from June 17 to July
14. During the period, 118 fires were reported. July 8 was the day with the highest fire occurrence
- 45 fires started that day. Of 1 18 fires reported, only 10 fires grew to 100 acres or larger. The fire
occurrences during this time were statewide - firom the Canadian Border to the Seward Peninsula
in the west.

The only project fire of the season was the Kennebec fire, located on Fish and Wildlife Service
land 30 miles south of Northway. The fire reached a size of 31,430 acres. A Class 1 overhead
team was placed on the fire.

The Alaska Fire Service sent a Class 2 overhead team plus two hotshot crews and four
emergency firefighter crews to the Yukon Territory, Canada, to a fire that was eight miles out of
Watson Lake and threatening the community. AFS seasonals were also sent firom Watson Lake to
Stewarts Crossing, Y.T. Good use of burnout and backfiring allowed them to save that
community.

The Alaska Smokejumpers had a significant event in 1982. For the first time they made a fire
jump with the newly developed ram-air parachute. A total of nine fires were jumped with the new
parachutes.

During the 1982 season, 44 firefighters firom the Boise Interagency Fire Center and other states
were sent to Alaska on a six-week detail. During the fire bust an additional 66 personnel were
brought to Alaska.

After July 17 only 42 new fires were started, the largest being only 18 acres, as the 1982 fire
season came to a close.

1982 statistics AFS

Number of Fires

Acres

Human

60

599

Lightning

189

70,199

False alarms

34

Total

283

70,798

Aircraft

Contract Continuing Offer Total

Fixed Wing 34 126 160

Helicopters 10 26 36

Passengers Hauled Pounds Hauled Hours Flown

Fixed Wing 6,025

Helicopters 2,401

Total 4,361 2,021,289 8,426

Retardant

171,875 gal.

Emergency Firefighter Payroll

Gross Wages: $1,230,351.09 No. Hires: 1,075

Paracargo

129,078 lbs.

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48 and Canada

Personnel: 123

Assistance Received from Lower 48

Personnel: 242 Aircraft: 2

1982 Special Projects

The 1982 fire season was the first season for the Tanana-Minchumina Plan. The Tanana-
Minchumina Fire Plan applies to approximately 31 million acres of federal, state and Native
corporation and other private lands in central Interior Alaska. The Fortymile Fire Management
Plan refers to an area of approximately 14 million acres located in the eastern part of the fire-
prone Interior region of Alaska. The plans contain four fire management alternatives or options |
that range from immediate and aggressive suppression to no initial attack, kaplementation of the
plans allows for the use of cost-effective strategies to reduce fire suppression expenditures, and to

10

assure responsiveness to the land manager's and land owner's objectives.

The purpose of the Tanana-Minchumina and Fortymile plans is to provide an opportunity for
land managers within the planning area to accomplish their land-use objectives through
cooperative fire management.

The objectives of the fire management plans are to ensure coordination and consolidation of
suppression efforts, and to provide suppression options which help reaHze current resource
management objectives in a manner that maximizes the effectiveness of each dollar spent.

The Alaska Fire Management Plans are not a land use plan. Rather, they are a guide to
coordinate the use of fire suppression forces among a wide variety of land managers and to
promote a comprehensive fire management program. They do not develop land use objectives:
they implement these objectives relative to fire management.

Initial Attack Management System (lAMS)

The lAMS project is to eventually provide fire management with a fuels data base firom
Landstat imagery and digital terrain information. This is useful in making decisions for initial
attack decisions. The fiiels map is to be integrated with the Alaska Lightning Detection System
(ALDS) and Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) to form the data base.

At the present time, the lAMS project is in a presentation state. This means that the project is
showing management what can be accomplished. The computer used for the project was the
Tektronix 4051. This system was slow and there were problems with the fuels maps.
Consequently this system was not used to its fullest potential this season.

Fire Behavior/Meteorology

The Alaska Black Spruce Program was run again during the 1982 fire season firom June 1 to
Sept. 6 by the fire behavior analyst, the fire weather forecaster from the National Weather Service,
and three BLM meteorology technicians. Daily fire weather forecasts were provided for 30 site-
specific locations throughout Interior Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula.

Fire behavior calculations were formulated fi-om the predicted weather conditions. The
calculations determined a fire danger level of low, medium, high or extreme to be expected for the
areas surrounding each of the 30 weather reporting sites. This information was then sent to the
BLM stations for planning the day's fire strategies.

The Black Spruce Program's fire behavior calculations and fire danger levels were used as the
basis for the revised AFS staffing guidelines. Daily fire danger levels determine the necessary
manpower force needed for each zone to handle the expected fire load.

1982 Facilities

The newly organized Alaska Fire Service moved into its new headquarters in Building 1555,
across the street from its old site in the BLM Fairbanks District Office.

The Branch of Fire Coordination added a situations office to its organization. The situations
office acts as a gathering and dissemination point for fire intelligence. It provides a daily fire
situation briefing for fire management overhead and client agency land managers. It also makes
available detailed information and maps for specific fires.

11

Circle Hot Springs and Tanana Zones both had their headquarters in the AFS building this
season. Zone activities for these two zones were planned and implemented at Fort Wainwright
through the zone support organization and the Fire Coordination Center.

Station improvements in the Tanana Zone included plumbing and station maintenance and
repair at Minchumina and improvements to the station grounds and heliport. Tanana Station
installed 500-gallon aviation gas and jet fuel tanks and electric fuel pumps at the fueling site.
Settles upgraded the fuel site and performed maintenance upgrades on the station buildings and
put a new well into service.

The 1982 fire season in McGrath was one of transition from a district fire organization with
major support and command functions in Anchorage to operation as one of four statewide zones
reporting to headquarters in Fairbanks. The transition went smoothly.

12

Alaska Fire Service
1982

State Director
Curtis McVce

Associate State Director
Fred Wolf

Cliief, Division of

Fire Management

Joe Kastelic

Fire Staff Officer-Logistics
George Kitson

Fire Staff Officer-Planning
Lowell King

Situations Officer
Jerry Coslcllo

Training
Ron Czmina

W

Secretary
Carol Canterbury

Fire Staff Officer-Operations
Dick O'Conneil

State Air Officer
Bob Clithero

Manager, Alaska

Fire Service
Jerry Tiinmons

Fire Fiscal Officer
Bill Hill

Chief, Div. of

Support Services

Doug Griffith

X

Chief, Div. of

Information Systems

Kathy Barker

(Acting)

Secretary
Glenda Collins

Safety Officer
(Vacant)

Chief, Div. of

Fire Suppression

Al Dunton

Secretary
Terry Brown

Chief, Branch of

Fire Coordination

Skip Scott

FMO McGrath Zone

Joe Ribar
(Acting)

Chief, Div. of

Attack Systems

Dave Liebersbach

(Acting)

Chief, Div. of Aviation
Management
Ron Dunton

FMO, Circle Hot Springs
Marv Robertson

FMO, Tanana

Zone

Jack Ledgerwood

FMO, Galena Zone
Ray Farinetti

1983 Season Highlights

The 1983 season for the Alaska Fire Service began in late April with a 200-acre military fire
on Fort Greely. During May military fires burned 35,800 acres, while other areas remained quiet.

By late May extremely dry conditions existed across Interior Alaska due to an early spring
breakup and very low accumulations of rainfall. These dry conditions made for extreme fire
dangers and initial attack of fires was much more difficult. The dry conditions continued until
August.

Although only 98,164 acres were reported burned, the season held some memorable fu-es.

The first multiple fire occurrence days began on May 29 and lasted until June 2. Thirty-eight
fires started during that period.

The Rosie Creek fire started on May 29 just southwest of Fairbanks. At first the human-caused
fire appeared to be spreading to the northeast, toward some housing developments, but the winds
shifted to the southeast, pushing the fire through an unpopulated area toward the Parks Highway,
which made an effective fire line. AFS fielded a Class 1 overhead team and equipment support to
the State's fire.

The major fire bust of the year was between June 19 and July 25, when 365 fires started. June
27 had the highest number of starts when 47 fires started, while 58 fires were burning. Seventy
fires started on July 7 and 8, with 46 fires burning. Fire #8596, located near Minto, was the major
project fire for AFS. It bumed 28,000 acres and a Class 1 team was placed on it. Two Class 2
overhead teams fielded by the State were used on other AFS fires during the bust.

Fire occurrence dropped to almost nothing during August as the weather turned rainy across
the Interior for the entire month.

The 1983 season was a good season for the implementation of interagency coordination. From
preseason training and throughout the fire season, AFS made a major effort to train and utilize
personnel firom other agencies.

1983 marked the end of Gerald Timmon's 20 years in Alaska fire management. He was the
first manager of the Alaska Fire Service, a term characterized by his thoughtful consideration for
firefighters and dedication to excellence.

14

1983 statistics -AFS

Number of Fires Acres

Human 68 64,336
Lightning 336 33,798
Total 451 98,164

Assistance Received from Lower 48

Personnel: 456 Aircraft: 4

Aircraft

Helicopters

Passengers Hauled 10,758
Pounds Hauled 1,833,805
Hours Flown 2596.5

Fixed Wing

11,083

2,805,438

5403.8

Retardant

992,450 gal.

Paracargo

162,000 lbs.

EFF Payroll

Gross Wages: $1,969,374.70 No. Hires: 330

15

Alaska Fire Service
1983

Manager, Alaska

Fire Service
Gerald Timmons

Fire Staff Officer
Dick O'Connell

Division of Fire

Support Services

Doug Griffith

Division of Electronic

Systems

Kathy Barker

Branch of Base

Services
Randy Smith

ON

Branch of
Supply

Jim Veitch
(Acting)

Branch of Radio

Repair & Install.

Don Stichler

Secretary
Glenda Collins

Division of Fire
Suppression
Alan Dunton

Branch of Tech.
Systems
(Vacant)

Branch of Info.

Planning
Ted Courtright

Branch of

Fire Coordination

Skip Scott

FMO, McGrath Zone
Dave Liebersbach

Division of Attack

Systems

Ron Dunton

Branch of

Fire Training

Don Wahl

Division of Aviation
Management
Craig Bledsoe

Branch of

Fire Specialists

Tom Goheen

(Acting)

Fixed Wing
Specialist
Jim Ward

Branch of

Smokejumper Mgmt.

Mike Clarkson

Helicopter

Specialist

Bob McAlpin

Branch of Air

Services
Dick McManus

FMO, Circle Hot Springs
Marv Robertson •

FMO, Tanana

Zone

Jack Ledgerwood

FMO, Galena Zone
Ray Farinetti

1984 Season Highlights

A late breakup and a cool May kept fire activity down for the Alaska Fire Service. Most of
May's fire activity for AFS involved assisting the State of Alaska with their fire problems in
Southcentral Alaska.

The first sustained fire activity of the season began on June 4 and continued through June 10.
June 6 was the most active day with 15 fire numbers issued.

From July 5 to the end of the month only 16 more fire numbers were issued. This was due to a
shift of weather patterns, which brought continued moisture to all of the Interior of Alaska. The
month of August was even slower with only four fire numbers issued and four acres bumed.

Five new fire management plans went into effect in June 1984. They were the Yukon-Togiak,
Kenai, Upper Yukon-Tanana, Seward-Koyukuk, and the Kobuk Fire Plans. More than 40 percent
of the lands in these plans were placed in limited response fire management areas. This limited
acreage combined with the acreage already in the limited option category in other plans amounted
to very large areas where no initial fire suppression action was taken. Because of the large acreage
in the limited category, fire managers were able to concentrate their initial attack forces on fire
management option areas with higher priorities. This definitely helped the initial attack success
rate.

The 1984 fire season had more fire numbers issued than the 1983 season, and bumed 34,000
acres more than in 1983. 93,000 acres of the total acreage bumed in 1984 was in the limited
response areas with the two largest fires of the season, the Wapoo Fire at 37,570 acres and the
Mud Fire at 12,000 acres in limited areas.

1 984 Fire Statistics - AFS

Number of Fires Acres

Human

53

3,348

Lightning

356

112,523

False alarms

46

Total

455

115,87]

Paracargo

101,130 lbs.

EFF Payroll

Gross Wages: $507,004 No. Hires: 798

Aircraft

Helicopters

Fixed Wing

Passengers Hauled

5,691

7,594

Cargo Hauled

664,665 lbs.

1,075,863 lbs

Hours Flown

1,870

5,928

17

Canadian Fire Weather Index

The Canadian Fire Weather Index (CFWI) is the national program used in Canada to measure
daily fire danger levels as the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) is the program used
m the United States. The NFDRS outputs have proved to be unreliable for use in Alaska but the
CFWI Duff Moisture Content (DMC) Portion has proven to be a very reliable indicator for long-
term drying of the duff layers and mirrors the actual number of fire starts that occur on a daily
basis. The CFWI has been run for the past several years for seven stations where 24-hour year-
round weather data is available. The seven stations are Fairbanks, Galena, Fort Yukon, McGrath,
Bettles, Tanana and Northway.

The Canadian Fne Weather hidex again proved to be a good indicator of the potential fire
danger and a reliable guide of drought or long-term drying conditions. The curves plotted for each
of the seven stations followed the multiple fire occurrence trend reported in 1984 and also the
overall fire behavior observed in the field.

1984 Special Projects

The Merlm (1 99Z) U.S. Forest Service infi-a-red aircraft out of the Boise Mteragency Fire
Center was used in Alaska for six days (6/28-7/4) during the 1984 fire season. The Merlin proved
to be usefiil in monitoring Limited fires and taking infi-a-red photos of these fires.

The IR product varied firom fire to fire with weather being the main influencing factor. Mfra-
red can take photos through smoke but not through clouds or rain.

Uses of the Merlin Infra-red equipment

1. Detecting fire perimeters of large fires under smokey conditions is one of the best uses of
this equipment. The IR equipment can see through smoke and can map the perimeter of active
fires and pick up spot fires out ahead of the main fire perimeter.

2. The IR equipment can be used during normal night-time hours or darker hours in Alaska
during August, hi the Lower 48, most of the IR flights are at night, when photos produced are
most timely for the day shift on project fires.

3. Under multiple fire conditions with smokey flying conditions, the Meriin can be used to
detect new fire starts and monitor carryover fires that can not be flown by other aircraft. The
Meriin can fly at 40,000 feet and cruises at 240 knots, making it possible to cover a large part of
the state and take IR photos of numerous fires during the eight-hour daily flight time.

Limitations

1. Lifi-a-red could not take photos through clouds or rain, or when the cloud cover was below
4,000 feet. If rain droplets get on the IR mirrors and the image is washed out, the aircraft is forced
to land and clean the mirrors. The afternoon thunderstorms with associated clouds and rain
shower forced all IR missions to be flown firom 2200 to 1000 the next day to avoid these cloudy
and rainy conditions.

18

2. The equipment is not adequate for use on fires in the final stages of mopup or for declaring
fires out. The Probeye is the best available IR equipment to use in these situations.

3. The IR equipment could not delineate burned areas on all fires, especially during the
morning hours when an IR map would be most helpful. This is probably because of the lack of a
marked temperature gradient between burned and unbumed vegetation. Night-time cooling and
relative humidity recovery of both burned and unbumed vegetation caused all vegetation to look
the same on the IR photos with very few hot spots showing up. The IR crew said it was the first
time they have encountered this problem. It is a major hmitation because there is not enough time
to hand sketch fire perimeter maps on so many fires flown. If a perimeter map is needed, the fire
has to be a going, active fire hotter than 600 degrees centigrade or the flight has to be scheduled
during the hottest part of the day.

4. Many areas of the state do not have inch-to-the-mile maps. The IR crew is used to numerous
sizes of complete maps. The lack of detailed maps in Alaska was frustrating to them and did not
allow for map sketches of most of the fires that were flown.

5. The pilots do not like to land the aircraft on gravel or dirt runways. The aircraft has
reversible props, which tend to pick up a lot of rocks, which can damage the props seriously
enough to require maintenance.

Station Improvements

Tanana Zone. Tanana Station had major work going on as a result of the zone headquarters
moving out of Fairbanks and to the field. This included the moving of eight trailers, three of
which were installed with electricity and power. A fuel tank was buried to supply the trailers with
fuel for the heaters. A new water treatment system was installed. The messhall received a new 16
X 46" eating and service area.

McGrath Zone. McGrath station construction and remodeling was kept to a minimum this
year due to the transfer of responsibilities from AFS to the State of Alaska for the 1985 fire
season. Remodeling of the old log warehouse was competed this year and has turned into
administration offices. The McGrath station will be leased to the State beginning in 1985, along
with the retardant and fueling sites.

Galena Zone. The new dispatch addition to the Galena zone office neared completion. The
retardant site was completely modernized in 1984. It was made into a permanent site with the
addition of two 25,000 gallon tanks and new dispensing and mixing hardware. A pad for the
backhaul building was laid with the building to be erected in the spring of 1985.

19

ALASKA FIRE SERVICE 198''(

Roger Trimble

Alaska Fire

Service Manager

Don Wahl

Tula Bel ton

Dick O'Connell

Safety Officer Program AriaJyst Fire Staff Officer

r

Doug Griffith

Div, of Fire

Support

o

Services
1

Kathy Barker
Div. of
Electronic
Systems

Glenda Collins
Secretary

I
Vacant

Branch
of Base
Services

r

Ron Dunton
Div. of
Fire
Suppression

Don

John

I
Dede

Domingus Stlchler Cebhard

Branch Brancli Branch

of of of

Supply Radio & Tech.

Instal. Systems

r

Skip Scott

BrancJi of

Fire

Coord inat ion

Ted

Courtright

Branch

of
Info.
Planning

Dave Liebersbach
Mcgrath FMO

Vacant
Branch

of
Fire
Training

Mary Robertson
Circle Hot Sprs,
FMO

Vacant
Div. of
Attack
Systems

Jim Ward
Div. of
Aviation
Mgnt .

Tom

Goheen

Branch

of
Fire
Specialists

Mike

Bobby Bob

Dick

Clarkson
Branch

Karr
Fixed

McAlpin
Heli-

McManus
Branch

of
SmokeJpr
Hgnt.

Wing
Spec.

copter
Spec.

of
Air
Service

Jack Ledgerwood
Tanana FMO

Ray Farinetti
Galena FMO

1985 Season Highlights

The 1985 fire season was a slow starter and a fast finisher. A great deal of the season's activity
and work load was centered around supporting fires in the Lower 48.

Most of the Alaska Fire Service McGrath Fire Management Zone was taken over by the State
of Alaska in 1985. The state leased the same BLM administrative site that had been used by AFS.
Those areas of the old McGrath Zone not taken over by the State were added to the Galena Fire
Management Zone. The addition did cause some problems for the Galena Zone because of the
increased distances to cover with detection, fire monitoring and logistical support of Fires. Galena
worked with State personnel in McGrath to alleviate some of those problems by coordinating the
monitoring, detection and suppression efforts of fires in the area.

The North Slope Fire Plan went into effect during the early part of the season. All lands within
AFS protection except the Venetie Reservation and Fort Wainwright military land are now
covered by Fire Management Plans.

The combination of a heavier than normal snow pack and a cool spring kept fire activity
through most of May to a minimum. Only northeastern Alaska had a below normal snowpack and
was dry enough by late May to cause some concem among fire managers. A human-caused fire on
May 24, east of Fort Yukon, appeared at first to be a typical spring fire in the Yukon Flats that
would be suppressed with minimum difficulty. The dryness of the fuels coupled with active fire
behavior forced a large commitment of resources and personnel. The fire was controlled at 659
acres and declared out on June 4.

June's fire activity was low with only 45 fire numbers issued. The fires were a mixture of both
human-caused and lightning-caused. The human-caused problem was associated with the dryer
northeastern area around Fort Yukon.

July started out as slow as June had left off Several days in early July had new lightning fire
starts but the fires remained small because the thunderstorms that spawned them were usually wet.

The Alaska fire season was starting to shape up as one of the slowest on record while the
Lower 48 was experiencing one of its busiest seasons on records. When all the resources in the
Lower 48 had become exhausted, AFS was asked what it could provide. During the month of July,
while AFS fire activity waned, logistical activity was constant in the AFS Fire Coordination
Center supporting the Lower 48 requests. Coordinating closely with other Department of Interior
agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the State of Alaska to fill numerous orders received from the
Boise Interagency Fire Center, AFS sent 41 crews and several hundred regular firefighters and
overhead to the large fires in the westem United States. In addition to the personnel sent were air
tankers, helicopters, lead planes and thousands of pounds of supplies, equipment and dry
retardant. On one day alone, five U.S. Air Force C-141 transport planes moved 285,000 pounds of
supplies to fires in California. The year 1985 marked the largest support effort ever by Alaska to
the Lower 48.

Weather over northern Alaska by mid- July had begun to improve and fuels were beginning to
dry out. Manpower and equipment from the Lower 48 had begun to trickle back to Alaska as the
fire activity in the Westem United States subsided.

The end of July saw the beginning of what turned out to be a late season fire bust. Between
July 28 and August 10, 161 fire numbers were issued out of the total of 261 fire numbers for the

21

year. Personnel and equipment were now being ordered back from the Lower 48 to support fires in
Alaska.

Several limited fires in Northeastern Alaska which had started in mid- July were now
threatening Native allotments, compounding the problem of the late fire bust. On Aug. 6, a Class
2 team was committed to a fire east of Chalkyitsik. By Aug. 8 the fire posed a major suppression
problem and a Class 1 team was assigned. Also on Aug. 6, a fire was detected southeast of Birch
Creek that exhibited extreme fire behavior and grew to 25,000 acres in 24 hours. A Class 1 team
was committed on Aug. 8 to set up fire breaks around the village of Birch Creek. A fire south of
Bettles that seemed to have the potential to grow like the Birch Creek fire was hit with a heavy
commitment of air tankers, Category 1 crews and a Class 2 overhead team. By Aug. 10, cooler,
moisture-laden weather had moved across the state and shut off the lightning for the rest of the
year. From that point on, the job was to secure lines, mop up and demob. The Alaska fire season
was over for another year.

AFS did assist the Lower 48 one more time. On Aug. 29 the Alaska Class 1 hiteragency Fire
Team was ordered to a 30,000-acre fire near Omak, Wash. AFS sent a full Class 1 long team
consisting of 23 AFS and BLM, State of Alaska and U.S. Forest Service personnel, who worked
the fire for 10 days before returning to Alaska.

Some people have referred to 1985 as the year of two fire seasons, one in the Lower 48 and the
late one in Alaska. It was also a season of improved interagency cooperation, where agencies
worked side by side in Fairbanks to support each other's fire problems as well as those in the
Lower 48.

22

1985 Fire Statistics - AFS

Number c

)f Fires

Acres

Human

54

1,238

Lightning

165

370,992

False Alamis

38

Support

4

Total

261

372,230

EFF Payroll

Gross Pay: $2,723,299 No. Hires: 1,190

Retardant

176,500 gal.

Aircraft

Helicopters Fixed Wing

Passengers Hauled 8,515 8,587

Cargo Hauled 571,800 732,856

Hours Flown 5,656 5,977

Paracargo

469.000 lbs.

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Personnel: 1,072 Aircraft: 19

Assistance Received from Lower 48

Personnel: 395 Aircraft: 1 1

AFS Hotshot Program

This year, the two AFS Hotshot Crews became fully operational as Category 1 crews. The AFS
Hotshot mission now includes work in Alaska, as well as availability as a national fire suppression
resource. .

The early part of the 1985 fire season was spent in training, project work, State of Alaska fires
and numerous fires in the Fort Yukon area. July saw both crews dispatched to fires in the state of
Idaho. The crew performance and resulting firC evaluations from these fires reinforce the viability
of the AFS Hotshots as a national resource. The Hotshot season ended in mid- August, with the
last fires part of the Fort Yukon complex.

23

Fire Training

1985 was the year chosen for changing fire management systems from the Large Fire
Organization to the hicident Command System. Along with this change came transition training
and involvement with transition and qualifications, certifications and the computer system that
tracks them. Other major projects included: continued development of an Alaska oriented crew
training package, major revision of the Alaska Handy Dandy and a management system to better
direct training for improved efficiency, in addition to the regular training schedule and numerous
fire assignments.

24

ALASKA PIRE SERVICE 1985

ROGER TRIMBLE
ALASKA PIRE SERVICE MANAGER

Don Wahl
Safety Officer

T

Tula Belton
Program Analyst

T

Dick O'Connell
Fire Staff Officer

to

Doug' Griffith
Div. of Support
Services

- I

Kathy Barker

Div. of Electronic

Systems

I

.Beverly Lu-jan

Secretary

I — ■ —

Terry

O'Connell

Branch
of Base
Services

Dede

Dominc^os

Branch

of
Supply

I

Don

Stichler
Branch

of
Radio &
Installation

John

Gebhard

Branch

of

Technical

Systems

r

Ted

Courtric|fht

Branch

of

Information

Planning

Ron Dunton
Div. of Fire
Suppression

Mary Robertson
Div. of Attack
Systems

.George Vacant Mike

Waiter Branch Clarkson

Branch of Fire Branch

of Specialists of

^^^® Smokejpr

^^^i"i"9 Mgmt.

Jim Ward
Div. of Aviation
Management
f

Bob
McAlpin

Heli-
copter

Spec.

I
Dick

McMani
Bran«
of Ai

Servic

Dave Liebersbach
Branch of Fire Coordination

Lee Entjrlesby
FMO
Circle Hot Springs

Jack Ledqerwood
FMO
Tanana

Ray Farinett-t
FMO
Galena

1986 Season Highlights

The 1986 fire season brought with it some significant changes in the Alaska Fire Service as
well as some unusual fire activity. Roger Trimble, the Manager of the Fire Service, departed for
Washington, D.C., to become the Bureau's Chief of Fire and Aviation. He was replaced in Alaska
by Tom Owen, former District Manager of the Carson City District in Nevada, on July 14. In
addition, the BLM'S State Aviation Officer was moved into the AFS organization.

The fire season started normally in 1986, with fire activity beginning in April in the
Anchorage/MatSu and Fairbanks areas and increasing throughout May.

The snow pack in Alaska was far below normal. Combined with a cool, dry spring and late
greenup, these unusual drought conditions caused 1-hour fuels to drop down to 10 percent or
lower in more than 20 weather stations around the state in June.

In mid June, the activity level picked up significantly. Lightning activity was at record heights
in the northeastern part of the state, averaging more than 2,000 hghtning strikes a day for 10 days
in a row. The result was nearly 240 fires and 142,560 acres burned. Ten project-size fires were
staffed simultaneously. This had a severe impact on the agencies within Alaska, and also on the
Boise Mteragency Fire Center, which provided support in overhead personnel, communications
equipment, retardant and supplies and infi-ared aircraft.

These extreme burning conditions prevailed throughout June and early July. The conditions
prompted management to provide fire shelters to all persons working on active fire lines.
Smokejumpers on initial attack were deployed 16 to a fire in an attempt to contain the fires at 10
acres or less. A large land area in the Literior labeled in modified protection was changed to
limited protection level because of the critical shortage of initial attack resources.

By the height of the fire season there were 83 emergency firefighter crews in the field at one
time. They consisted of both crews on the organized rotation list and crews that were not. Of the
73 crews on the list, only four were not used because of their unavailability at the time of call-out.

Moisture started moving into the state around mid July and by the end of the month, new fire
starts were virtually non-existent throughout the northern Literior. By this time there had been
more than 660 fires that burned more than 480,000 acres statewide.

As fire activity slowed in Alaska, it began to increase in the westem part of the Lower 48.
Alaska reciprocated for the earlier aid by sending EFF crews, overhead personnel, smokejumpers,
aircraft, equipment and supplies.

The heavy rains of July and August didn't reach the Tok area, which remained in drought
conditions well into September. Twenty fires occurred in September from hunters and tourists.
None of the fires resulted in significant acreage, but the activity was far above normal for that
time of year.

With the coming of October, so came an end to what was the most active fire season since
1974. Without the cooperative efforts of the agencies throughout Alaska and the Lower 48, this
intense fire season would have been much worse.

26

1986 Fire Statistics - Statewide

Cause Number of Fires Total Acres Total

AFS

State

AFS

State

Human

22

383

405

10,655

Lightning

184

124

308

74,597

Total

206

507

713

395,169

85,252

480,421*

*No AFS acreages for human, lightning-caused fires; Number of fires inl986 Statistics (713)
differ fi-om figure in Summary for Calendar Years (396).

Aircraft

Fixed Wing

Helicopters

Passengers Hauled

11,213

14,711

Cargo Hauled

1,180,860

1,807,554

Hours Flown

4,997

1,952

Paracargo

194,492 lbs.

Retardant

742,675 gal.

EFF Payroll

Gross Wages: $2,832,230.74 No. Hires: 1,458

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Persoimel: 620 Aircraft: 1

Assistance Dispatched from Lower 48

Persoimel: 717 Aircraft: 9

1986 Special Projects

Fire Familiarization Program

1986 was the trial year for the Fire Famiharization Program. Ten individuals fi-om the BLM
Fairbanks District, Anchorage District and Alaska State Office were given the opportunity to gain
fire experience and knowledge through an organized detail to the Alaska Fire Service. They were
given basic fire training courses in the spring. For a two-week period in June, they were assigned
to various AFS fimctions within the Zone organizations and Fairbanks. Their training and detail
was coordinated by the Branch of Fire Specialists within the Division of Attack Systems. The FFP
members gained experience in a variety of fire jobs: firefighter, helispot manager, supply worker,
detection, radio operator, and administrative assistant. The program served to increase the list of
qualified BLM employees available in the state for fire assignments.

27

Electronic Systems

The Alaska Initial Attack Management System underwent considerable improvement for the
1986 fire season. The MV-8000 computer in Fairbanks was brought on line. It served as the hub
to which the DG-20 field units were networked. Improvements made in the system included the
ability to obtain protection information while in the lightning display mode, ability to look at the
last four days' lightning displays, access to RAWS data for up to four days, access to BEHAVE (a
fire behavior prediction system), and a newly developed program to transmit resource orders
between offices. In addition, a mail system was made available, an automated version of
BEHAVE was developed that accesses vegetative types directly from the fuels mapping
information stored in the computer by latitude and longitude, and the Canadian Drought Index
program was put on the computer. Lastly, the National Weather Service's fire weather forecasting
was done directly on the MV-8000, and a connection was made between the Weather Service's
PRIME computer system and the MV-8000, allowing easier access by both the AFS and NWS to
fire weather information. Lightning and RAWS data are now archived on the MV-8000 for review
in the fall. Canadian lightning data, which includes positive and negative strikes, is also archived.
A review of fire starts vs. the polarity of the lightning causing them needs to be done.

The Automated Lightning Detection System remained the same as it did during the 1985 fire
season. Plans are bemg made to place a direction finder in Nome to detect lightning strikes that
have been reported, but not detected by ALDS, on the Seward Peninsula.

Probeye use increased this year from last year due to the increased fire activity. A training
course covering the operation of probeyes is scheduled for April 1987. This should help reduce
the damage that occurs occasionally during field use. The U.S. Forest Service has a hand-held
thermal I.R. sensor that was available this summer. A study needs to be done to compare the two.

28

Alaska Fire Service
1986

Manager, Alaska
Fire Service
Tom Owens

Secretary
Beverly Lujan

State Aviation
Officer
(vacant)

CJuef, Div. OfFire

Support Services

Doug Griffith

Fire Staff Officer
DickO'ConneU

Safety Officer
Don Wahl

Ouef, Div. Of

Electronic

Systems

Katliv Barker

Chief, Div. Of

Fire Suppression

Ron Dunton

Chief, Br.
Base Ser.

Terry
O'ConneU

Chief, Br.

Supply

Dede

Domingos

Chief, Br.

Radio &

Installation

Don Strichler

Chief, Br.

Remote

Sensing

J. Gebhard

Chief, Div. Of

Attack Systems

Marvin Robertson

r

Chief, Div. Of

Aviation

Management

Jim Ward

Chief, Br.

Air Services

Dick McManus

Fixed Wing

Specialist

Bobby Karr

I

Helicopter

Specialist

Bob McAlpin

Chief, Br. Fire
Coordination

Tom Frey

Fire Mgmt. Officer

Galena
Dave Liebersbach

Fire Mgmt.
Officer CHP
Lee Englesby

Fire Mgmt.

Officer Tanana

Jack Ledgenvood

Chief, Br.
Fire

Training
George
Walter

I

Chief, Br.
Fire Supp.

Spec.

Dave
Stewart

Chief, Br.

SMJ

Mgmt

Roger

Vorce

1987 Season Highlights

The major highlights of the 1987 fire season were the increasing cooperation between the
various agencies involved in wildfire suppression activities in Alaska, as well as the increased
inter-regional cooperation with the lower 48 states. The Alaska fire season did not turn out to be
as severe as expected.

During the spring and early summer it appeared that Alaska was headed toward a major fire
year. The snow pack throughout much of the state was below normal, the temperatures were
higher, and April and May precipitation was significantly lower than normal. Although, in terms
of fuel moisture and general burning conditions, high potential for fire starts continued throughout
much of the summer, lightning activity never developed to the degree necessary to cause a major
fire problem. On June 24, 22 new lightning fires were reported across AFS protection areas, and
July 14, 30 new fires were reported. These two lightning busts did not cause any significant
problems.

Two large fires, both burning on military lands, accounted for the largest commitment of
firefighting forces during the season. The Granite Creek fire, which started on May 22 near Fort
Greely, spread 12 miles on the day of discovery and threatened Delta Junction by the evening of
the first burning period. A maximum of 650 people staffed the 43,500-acre fire, which was
contained on May 28 with no structures lost or major injuries. The second large fire started on
Eielson Air Force Base on June 23. On July 5, the fire made a major run, growing fi-om 890 acres
to an estimated 2,600 acres and producing a tower of smoke which caused concern among local
residents. The 10,960-acre fire was contained July 9 by 690 firefighters. The total cost of fighting
these two fires was around $5.6 million.

1987 was the first year of operation for the Alaska Interagency Fire Coordination Center, which
combined the operations of the State of Alaska's Central Office Logistics with the Alaska Fire
Service's Fire Coordination Center. The cooperation proved to be very effective. Statewide initial
attack coordination was handled by the AFS dispatchers, logistics was a joint operation, and a
single statewide situation report was produced daily.

On Aug. 3 1 , the Boise Interagency Fire Center began ordering manpower firom AFS for what
was to become the largest commitment of Alaskan firefighters to the lower 48 states since there
has been an organized suppression organization in Alaska. More than 1,600 personnel were sent
fi-om Alaska, including 65 Type n crews, 15 heUcopter modules, 24 dispatchers, and 18
smokejumpers. Of the overhead sent down, AFS filled 187 positions, the State of Alaska 115
positions, and the U.S. Forest Service 23 positions. In addition, the USFS sent 116 people to fill
out six of the Type n crews. In addition, the AFS warehouse shipped 150,000 pounds of
equipment and supplies to support the fire-fighting efforts.

Another example of interagency cooperation was the detail of the Mendocino Hotshot Crew
firom Region 5 of the USFS to Alaska, from June 8 to July! 7, and the reciprocal detail of the
Chena Hotshot Crew from Alaska to the Mendocino National Forest on July 29.

On Oct. 22, a fire burned one of the AFS warehouse cold storage buildings to the ground.
About $2 million worth of fire stores and other gear was destroyed.

30

1987 Fire Statistics - Statewide

Cause

Number of Fires

AFS State

Acres

AFS State

Human

453

5,848

Lightning

36

7,303

Total

264*

489

166,796 13,151

*AFS totals include 80 fire numbers for fires in state protection zones. Those fires are probably
also included in state totals, which are taken fi-om the DOF 1987 Annual Report. AFS Statistics
do not provide breakdown for human and hghtning-caused fires.

Aircraft

Total Passengers Total Cargo Total Flights

3,930 415,2501b. 975

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Personnel: 1,613

Assistance Received from Lower 48

Personnel: 211

Paracargo

116,940 lbs.

Retardant

603,255 gal.

EFF Payroll

Gross wages: $5,838,108.62

1987 Special Projects

The 1987 fire season was the first operational season for the North Star Fire Crew. The crew
was organized to establish a larger entry level pool for AFS and to provide an additional hand
crew for fire managers. While on project work, crew members volunteer their services. When
assigned to a fire the crew members are paid EFF wages. The crew was available firom June 1
until Aug. 14. During that time they were on fires 46 days and spent the rest of their time on
project work and training.

31

1987 AFS Organization

C

Manager, AFS
Torri Owen

[Associate Manager)
I Dick O'Connell

Secretary
Bev Lujan

Chief, Division of
Aviation Management
. Jim Ward

Chief, Division -of

Fire Support Services

Doug Griffith

Branch of Base

Services
Terry O'Connell

Branch of Supply
Dede Domingos

EI

Helicopter

Specialist

Bob McAlpin

Fixed Wing

Specialist

Bobby Karr

Branch of Air

Services
Dick McManus

fs.

Cafety Officer]
Don Wahl

Chief, Division of

Electronic Services

Kathy Barker

I

Chief, Division of

Attack Systems

Marvin Robertson

Branch of Radio

Installation and

Repair

' Branch of ^

Special Electronics

John Gebhard

Branch of Fire

Training
George Walter

Branch of Smoke^
jumper Mgmf.
Rodger Vorce

Branch of Fire

Suppresssion

Specialists

Joe Rihar ^

Chief, Branch of

Fire Coordination

Tom Frey

Tanana Fire

Management Officer

Jack Ledgerwood

Galena Fire

Management Officer

Dave Liebersbach

Circle Hot Springs Fire

Management Officer

Brian Fox (acting)

1988 Season Highlights

The 1988 Alaska fire season was the most severe season in the past 10 years. More than 2.1
million acres were burned statewide. The Alaska Fire Service mounted a massive mobihzation
effort during July and August to suppress the fires. The effort included the support of Alaska's
interagency suppression community as well as substantial support from the Lower 48.

The season began with a fire that started on April 14 on the Fort Wainwright Army active
artillery range. On May 10 the fire burned into fuels outside of the active range and increased in
size to 13,780 acres. Smokejumpers were dispatched to try to stop the spread but were hampered
primarily by the probability of fire ordnance still on the ground within the range. Successful
burnout operations and a change in the weather kept the fire from burning several cabins.

A controlled bum on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, which burned out of prescription on
May 26, was the cause of the next major mobilization of forces. A Class II overhead team was in
place on the fire by the afternoon of May 27. On May 29 the fire received considerable rainfall,
which resulted in total demobihzation and the return of the fire to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The first significant lightning activity began June 11, igniting 10 fires across the Upper Yukon
and Tanana Zones. Lightning activity continued until June 17, and accounted for 90 new fires in
six days. Most of these were in limited action areas, although enough were in modified and full
suppression areas to cause the mobilization of additional smokejumpers and the Lassen Hotshot
crew from the Lower 48. With the additional forces and the help of some timely rain showers,
none of the new fires gamed enough momentum to become problem fires.

Many of the limited action fires continued to bum into July. Low relative humidities,
frequently in the low 20s across the state, and unusually windy conditions (10-20 mph surface
winds) throughout the month of July, caused many of the limited fires to increase rapidly in size.
Some fires were increasing by as much as 10,000 acres per day. This increased activity generated
a large volume of smoke, which began to fill the large shallow basins of Interior Alaska. The
Multi- Agency Coordination Group met to re-evaluate the fire management options provided for
in the Alaska Interagency Fire Plan. Tlie decision was reached to continue with the Modified
Suppression option rather than converting to the Limited Suppression option on July 10, and to
allow fire management officers the option to take action on limited fires in certain areas. At about
the same time, the Galena Zone became very active with new starts near Husha and Hughes as
well as an increasing commitment to a fire near Selawik.

A total of nine aircraft, 792 people, and extra suppties and equipment were ordered from the
Lower 48 to support the AFS suppression effort. Ten fires received Class H team management
during July. At the end of July, four Class n teams with approximately 50 crews were still being
supported along with several multi-crew Class 111 fires.

By mid- August, fire activity began to wind down in Alaska. Moist weather patterns had slowed
the fires. Fire managers had achieved their suppression objectives, which in some cases were to
protect cabins and in others containment and control of the fires.

The final period of fire activity for AFS began with the mobihzation of crews, overhead,
equipment and aircraft to the Lower 48 to help with suppression efforts, primarily in Montana. la

33

a combined effort of state and federal agencies, 1,550 firefighters, including 63 crews, 14 aircraft,
and thousands of pounds of equipment and supplies were mobilized and sent south.

Alaska's last firefighter returned from assignment on Nov. 23, ending what had been a long,
record-setting season. More paracargo was dropped, more people were on fires in Interior
Alaska, and more support was received fi-om the Lower 48 than in any previous fire season.

1988 Fire Statistics - Statewide

Number of Fires

Acres

Human

347

20,982

Lightning

255

2,113,660

Total

602

2,134,642

Aircraft

Total flights Total Passengers Total Cargo Flight hours

2,180 11,215 7,133,072 lbs. 15,600

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Personnel: 1,550 Aircraft: 14

Assistance Dispatched from the Lower 48

Persoimel: 792 Aircraft: 9

Retardant

.851,755 lbs.

Paracargo

1,552,360 lbs.

EFF Payroll

Gross wages: $9,620,968.28 Hours worked: 886,903

34

1^-

1988 AFS Organization

C

Manager, AFS
Tom Owen

[Associate Manager]
I Dick O'Connell

Secretary
Bev Lujan

Aviation Officer
Jim Ward

1

Cliief, Division of
Fire Support Services
Doug Griffitti .

Aircraft
Specialist .
Bobby Karr

Aircraft

Specialist

Bob McAlpin

j:

Brancli of Base

Services
Terry O'Connell

Brancti of Supply
Dede Domingos

Branch of Ramp

Services
Dick McManus

Branch of Fire
Training
HJ Hayes

(Fire Staff Officer]
Jack Ledgerwood/

/safety Officer)
\ DonWahl

Chief, Division of

Electronic Services

Kathy Barker

I

Chief, Division of

Fire Operations

Marvin Roberlson

£

Branch of Radio
Installation and

Repair
. Don Slichler>

1

Branch of
Special Electronics

John Palmer
^ factinp^ —

Lead Air

Attack Manager

Rob Collins

Branch of Smoke
jumper Mgmt.
Rodger Vorce

Branch of Fire

Suppresssion

Specialists

Fire rnordinator
lorn Frey

Tanana Fire

Management Officer

Mike Silva

Galena Fire

Management Officer

Dave Liebersbach

Circle Hoi Springs Fire

Management OKicer

Brian Fox

1989 Season Highlights

The 1989 fire season in Alaska was very different from the 1988 season when, statewide, 602
fires burned 2,134,642 acres. Of those fires, 259 were in Alaska Fire Service protection zones
and burned 2,003,442 acres. In contrast, this year AFS issued 149 fire numbers, of which only 68
were for fires or false alarms in AFS protection zones. Eight of these were false alarms, one was
for a 9,000-acre fire that Canada asked AFS to fight, and the remaining 59 AFS protection fires
burned only 1,825.2 acres. The other 81 numbers were issued for support for State of Alaska or
U.S. Forest Service protection fires in Southeast Alaska, for which we provided a Class EI and a
Class n team, as well as two hotshot crews.

The main effort of AFS this year was in support of other agencies, rather than in fighting its
own fires. AFS supplied major support effort for the Prince WilUam Sound oil spill containment
effort, the fire bust in the McGrath area protected by the State of Alaska's Southwest Area
Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service Region 10 on Prince of Wales Island in the Ketchikan Area of
the Tongass National Forest, the Canadian Yukon Territories Northern Affairs Program, Forest
Resources, and to the Lower 48, where we sent 61 Type n crews, 54 of which were EFF crews.

The Alaska Class I team was used on assignments to the Prince William Sound oil spill and to
a fire in the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho.

Tom Owen retired as the Manager of AFS in September, 1989.

1 989 Fire Statistics - Statewide

Number of Fires Acres Burned

Human

440 15,505

Lightning

45 53,388

Total

485 68,893

Aircraft

Total flights

Total Passengers Total cargo

Flight hours

1,087

6,483 1,696,554

4,804

Paracareo

124,800 lbs.

Retardaut

175,738 gal.

Assistance Dispatched to Lower 48

Persormel: 1,526 Aircrafl;:12

Assistance Dispatched from the Lower 48

Personnel:131

36

EFF Payroll

Gross wages: $4,078,744.06 Hours worked: 364,043.4

Oil Spill Assistance

AFS provided assistance to the clean-up efforts of the Prince WilHam Sound oil spill. The
Alaska Class I overhead team was sent first to Valdez and then to Seward to manage the National
Park Service effort in mobilizing for the protection of the Kenai Fjords National Park. As the oil
spread south and west toward Kodiak Island, the National Park Service effort expanded to
include Katmai National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ordered a Class II team from
AFS to help with their efforts on the Kodiak and Becharof National Wildlife Refuges. In
addition, both teams provided assistance to the Kenai Borough.

37

1989 AFS Organization

I Manager, AFS |
. I Tom Owen I

[Associate Managerj
I Dick O'Connell J

Secretary
Bev Lujan

)

Fire Coord inator>
Ron Krishnek
(acting)

OP

Aviation Officer
Jim Ward

Aircraft
Operations
Specialist
Bobby Karr

Aircraft
Operations
Specialist
Bob_McAl£in_y

Division of
Fire Sen/ices
Dade Domingos

fact

Brancfi of Base

Services
Terry O'Connell

naL

1

Branch of Supply

Jim Rustad

(acting)

Branch of Ramp

Services
Dick McManus

Fire Training

Officer

RJ Hayes

Fire Staff Officer
(vacant)

Safety Officer
Don Wah!

. Division of
Information Systems
Kathy Barker

Division of

Fire Operations

Marvin Robertson

1

Branch of Radio

Communications

Don Stichier

1

^ Branch of
Technical Systems

John Palmer
^ (acting) >

Lead Air

Attack Manager

Rob Collins

Branch of Smoke-
jumper Mgmt.
Rodger Vorce

Branch of Fire

Suppresssion

Specialists

Joe Ribar

Tanana Zone Fire

Management Officer

Mike Silva

Galena Zone Fire

Management Officer

Dave Liebersbach

Upper Yukon Zone Fire

Management Officer

Brian Fox

Summary for Calendar Years 1955-1989

Number Acies 5 year averages 10 year averages

Year fires burned fires acreage fires aaeage

1955 190 23,582 '

1956 226 476.593

1957 391 5,049,661

1958 278. 317,215

1959 320 596,574 281 1,292,725

1960 238 87,180

1961 117 5,100

1962 102 38,975

1963 194 16,290

1564 164 3,430 163 30,195 194 661,460

1965 148 7,093

1966 256 672,765

1967 207 109,005

1968 442 1.013301

1969 685' 4,231.820 348 1,206.797 255 618,496

1970 659 113,486

1971 586 1,069,108

1972 780 966.247 ...

1973 442 59,816

1974 869 662,960 667 574,323 507 890,560

1975 411 127,845

1976 622 69,119

1977 681 2.295.808

1978 356 7.757

1979 337 389,925 481 578.091 574 576.207

1980 180 129.892

1981 322 536.217

1982 283* . 70,798

1983 451 98,164

1984 455 115,871 338 190,188 410 384.140

1985 261 372.230

1986 396 395.169

1987 264 166,796 352^ 203,171
1988* 602 2,134,642

1989 485 68,893

^Total fire numbers from 1969 on includes false alanns.

^In 1982 the State of Alaska assumed protection responsibilities for its own lands. The niunber of fires listed

above from 1982 to 1987 does not indicate the total number of fires that occurred in Alaska, nor the total acreage

burned.
3

1982-1987 average covers the period since the organization of AFS.
^^1988-89 figures are sutewide totals.

39

u:

f^

X

d-
'*•

«5^

C/i

1 ifj /;r-..

^j:^

£}'^'

r*^

4:

'in

4^

&