BLM AFS monitoring large tundra fire in Western Alaska

  • Smoke drifting up from a burned area surrounded by bodies of water.
  • Smoke drifting up from land interspersed with water.

BLM Alaska Fire Service officials are keeping an eye on a large tundra fire burning in a remote part of Western Alaska.

The Atchuelinguk Fire (#090) is burning in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge approximately 33 miles north of Marshall. Surrounded by bodies of water, it is located east of the confluence of the Nageethin and Atchuelinguk rivers. A BLM AFS firefighter who conducted an aerial survey of the area on Tuesday night estimated the fire had burned about 1,000 acres of dead grass and brush.

BLM AFS Galena Zone personnel plan to conduct daily aerial surveys of the fire. The fire is situated in a limited management option area in a remote location where it is allowed to play its natural ecological role. There are several allotments to the northwest of the fire, the nearest being within 3 miles. However, there are bodies of water between the fire and allotments.

Should the fire pose a direct threat to the Native allotment, and provided sufficient resources are available to ensure a safe response, efforts will be made to protect the remote parcel of land.

Cause of the fire has yet to be determined. It was discovered on Sunday.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, 89 fires have burned just more than 6,000 acres across Alaska. There are no staffed fires.

Contact BLM Alaska Fire Service Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at (907)356-5510 or eipsen@blm.gov for more information about this fire.

  • Map of area where the Atchuelinguk Fire is located in region surrounded by water.
  • Map of area where fire is located in the Yukon Delta region


Categories: Active Wildland Fire, BLM Alaska Fire Service, Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge

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