Dry spring conditions and strong winds are allowing a burn at the dump to grow near Pilot Point. Fire crews are dropping suppressant and 12 smokejumpers worry working the fire estimated at 250 acres as of Monday night.
Here are some details as shared on the Alaska Division of Forestry Update (Facebook).
UPDATE 6:45 p.m. (5/24/2021)
Tanker 540 has dropped a load of retardant around the Pilot Point Fire and 12 smokejumpers dropped on the fire continue working to contain it. The latest size estimate is 250 acres and the fire is roughly 2 1/2 miles north of the village.
Southeast winds continue to push the fire west toward Ushagik Bay and it is currently about a half mile from the water. Smokejumpers are holding the fire north of a road that leads from the village to the dump where the fire escaped into the grass. Smokejumpers are formulating a plan to burn around the Pilot Point airport toward the heel of the fire to protect infrastructure there if threatened. Given its current direction of travel, the fire will likely double in size by the time it hits the water and firefighters will attempt to keep it north of the road.
UPDATE 4:15 p.m. (5/24/2021)
All 12 smokejumpers are safely on the ground and are beginning to take suppression action on the wildfire in Pilot Point. The fire is currently estimated at 300 acres and creeping in grass. At last report it was approximately 3 miles northeast of the village and is still moving away from the town thanks to southeast winds of 15-20 mph pushing it to the west. Nothing is threatened at this time. An air tanker and air attack have been ordered to the fire and will be departing shortly to assist suppression efforts on the ground.
ORIGINAL POST (5/24/2021)
Twelve BLM Alaska Fire Service smokejumpers are enroute to a reported 1-acre grass fire burning near the village of Pilot Point on the Alaska Peninsula in Southwest Alaska. The fire escaped from the village dump and local responders were not able to control it given the high winds in the area. The fire was moving away from the village at last report. The smokejumpers left Fairbanks shortly after 1 p.m. for the roughly two-hour flight to the village.
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