Parachute firefighters and aircraft responding to fire in Denali National Park – Alaska wildfire information

Multiple aircraft and paratroopers respond to a new fire raging across the Nenana River near the village of McKinley Park in Denali National Park.

THE Riley Fire (#318) was reported by many people in the village located about 8 miles south of the park entrance. The Nenana River separates this popular tourist destination from the fire. No structures are immediately threatened.

The fire was measured around 1:15 p.m. by people aboard an aircraft flying a group of smoke bombs before deploying to the fire. It was growing and burning just as quickly in the black spruce trees near the Alaska Railroad. It was estimated to be between 20 and 30 acres.

Large and small excavators and an air tanker were also responding to the fire to quickly extinguish this wildfire near a populated area.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

-BLM-

Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Department, PO Box 35005 1541 Gaffney Road, Fort Wainwright, Ak 99703

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The Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service (AFS), located in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, provides wildland fire suppression services on more than 240 million acres of Department of the Interior and Native Corporation lands in Alaska. In addition, the AFS has other statewide responsibilities, including: interpreting fire management policy; oversight of the BLM Alaska Aviation program; fuel management projects; and the operation and maintenance of advanced communications and computing systems such as the Alaska Lightning Detection System. AFS also maintains a national incident support cache with an inventory of 18.1 million. The Alaska Fire Department provides wildland fire suppression services for America's “Last Frontier” on an interagency basis with the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Forest Service USDA, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Alaska.

Categories: AK Fire Info