10:00pm Update
Division of Forestry has stated that the cause of the fire is human, possibly a campfire or exhaust spark. Also, all Kenai Peninsula Schools are in session as normal including Skyview where the command center is being set up.
9:00pm Update
The Funny River fire tonight is estimated from new mapping at 20,000 acres. The fire is 5 miles from the Beaver Creek Subdivision which contains approx 10 cabins and 4.5 miles from the Sterling Hwy. The Type 2 Team is engaged with the fire management team on tonight’s fire operations and will take command of the fire at 6am tomorrow.
8:00pm Update
Scott Walden with the Borough Office of Emergency Management addressed the Borough Assembly tonight, saying a command center has been set up at Skyview High School with around 150 people working to ensure the fire is put out as quickly and safely as possible.
Walden was asked about any residences, particularly recreational cabins along Tustamena Lake, which might be in danger…
Walden: “There was approximately 8 of them near the leading edge. Forestry flew over them with a helicopter. They were able to identify the owners of each and contact each of them and forewarn them of what the possibilities were and to take appropriate defenses. Those were the only ones that I’m aware of that even came close so far.”
Information boards will be going up tomorrow with the latest information and maps. CES said they’ll be posted at locations like Fred Meyer and the Kasilof Mercantile.
In the latest release from the Division of Forestry, the Funny River Fire is approximately 10 miles long and approximately a mile wide but widening at the Tustamena Lake shore.
6:00 pm Update
As crews work around the clock to combat the massive wildfire that has now hit Tustamena Lake’s shores, the issue of changing teams and rest comes into play.
We spoke with Andy Alexandrou with the Division of Forestry about what the policy for firefighters resting is.
Alexandrou: “They do have a work, rest ratio in place and that is 14 hours of work and then eight hours of rest, sometimes that is broken and in this case I think everyone is getting the work rest ratio, they are getting the resst, it may not be quality rest like laying in your bed at home but it’s a sleeping bag under a tarp or in a tent.”
The Division of Forestry is also changing out crews according to Type II Incident Management Team Spokesperson Michelle Weston.
Weston: “And there’s also a number of crews on order and also some air resource.”
The Team is currently setting up their command post at Skyview High School and as soon as they are briefed will work to get more information to the public via flyers said Weston.
Weston: “And then as we know more we will have people there, so if situations are changing we will definitely be updating more quicker but usually its a morning routine of putting out new maps that we get in the morning that show the updated areas and the progression maps on the fire.”
As we have previously reported some people are already leaving the areas near the fire on their own volition. Alexandrou covered what residents can do to prepare their homes if they leave.
Alexandrou: “They could clean up their yards if they have a wood pile against the house, get the wood away from the house, if they have trash or debris up against the house of very close to it they should remove it, maybe haul it to the landfill, basically they need to clean up their yards to reduce any kind of fire hazard that is close to their home. A good rule of thumb is anywhere between 30-60 feet to have everything cleared out from around the home. If they have garden hoses and sprinklers, in case the fire should come that way they should have those ready to put out and start wetting down the area around the home. If they have a cedar shingle roof they should have some sort of sprinkler system on the roof of the home. Asphalt shingles aren’t too bad and metal roof is definitely way better.”
5:00 pm Update
While some residents are voluntarily leaving their homes in Kasilof, CES says there is still no evacuation order for any areas near the Funny River Fire.
Many people have been asking who would make the call for an evacuation so we spoke to Borough Emergency Management Services Director Scott Walden.
Walden: “When we start planning directly for an evacuation, for example if we were asked to conduct an evacuation within a certain amount of hours for an area, we would immediately get information out to the individuals in the area.”
He said that when things like this happen, they are continuously planning just in case.
Walden also went over some of the ways that they would get the news out to the public.
Walden: “We have a reverse 911 system that we could deploy as one of the tools, also weather radio, we could actually have that activated, in fact through KSRM the emergency alert system, for example, could be activated which would in turn activate the the radio notifications and marine radio as well. So there’s a number of different ways that we could make those notices in addition to the traditional announcement on the radio.”
To learn more about the borough’s evacuation plan, visit the Emergency Management Services home page.
For this afternoon’s exhaustive coverage, click here.
