Refuge Notebook
Article
September 17, 2004
The Glacier Creek Fire is still generating a lot of Questions
By Doug Newbould
Although the smoke has finally cleared out and structures along the
north shore of Tustumena Lake are no longer threatened, I am still getting
lots of questions and comments about the Glacier Creek Fire. So, I thought
it would be good for me to update you on the fire’s status and
answer some of those questions.
During the past two weeks, a series of wetting rains, cooler temperatures
and nightly humidity recovery have combined - to greatly reduce fire
behavior along the perimeter and remove the heat engine from the interior
of the Glacier Creek Fire. And although the fire is not yet “Out”,
the dragon is sleeping and should soon succumb to winter’s sword.
With clear air over the fire, Refuge pilot Rick Ernst has been able
to see the true extent of the fire perimeter and collect enough GPS
data to allow for more accurate mapping. Our resident biometrician and
GIS specialist - Mark Laker, has recalculated the size of the fire at
just under 6000 acres. While much of the perimeter is cold, there remain
a few “hotspots” – one in Indian Creek canyon, another
along the northernmost finger and a third along the lakeshore, just
east of Moose Creek. At these points on the perimeter, the fire continues
to smolder and creep in deep duff, occasionally climbing up and torching
dead spruce.
The Bear Creek and Moose Creek trails have been re-opened, but the
Emma Lake Trail remains closed until Refuge crews can assess the damage,
remove hazard trees and complete trail rehabilitation work. There is
a very real possibility the Emma Lake Trail will remain closed until
next summer.
No structures – private or public - were lost to the fire, thanks
to the valiant efforts of Refuge and State firefighters, landowners
and three fire crews: Nikolai, Kaltag and the Prineville Hotshots.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Evidence gathered
to date indicates the fire was probably human-caused, but the person
or persons responsible have not been located. And contrary to some of
the rumors making the rounds, the Glacier Creek Fire was not a prescribed
fire nor was it intentionally set by Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
or Alaska Department of Fish & Game employees.
One of the most frequently-asked questions is, “Why wasn’t
the fire put out when it was first discovered and relatively small?”
The answer is somewhat complicated, but I will do my best. When I was
first notified there was a fire at the east end of Tustumena Lake (8/14),
I was busy fighting the Willow Ave Fire #597 in a Kasilof subdivision
off the Crooked Creek Road. All available wildland firefighting resources
in the vicinity, including aircraft and engines from the Alaska Division
of Forestry, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Central Emergency
Services responded because of the fire’s threat to life and property.
Our unified interagency attack on the Willow Ave Fire was not a seat-of-the-pants
effort, but a pre-planned cooperative response as prescribed by the
Alaska Interagency Wildland Fire Management Plan (AIWFMP). The same
can be said of our response to the Glacier Creek Fire and every other
wildfire that occurred in Alaska during this record fire season. The
current version of the AIWFMP was established in 1998, but its usefulness
and effectiveness has been tested every year. Perhaps after the 2004
fire season, we can say this unique interagency fire management plan
is tried and true.
I wrote an article describing the AIWFMP in some detail, back in April
of this year. You can read that Refuge Notebook column if you go to
our website (see: below). Or if you would like to see the plan in its
entirety, go to the Alaska Fire Service website: http://fire.ak.blm.gov
and click on “Fire Planning”. The important thing to note
is the AIWFMP gives all Alaska wildland fire managers a decision matrix
tool that allows us to prioritize wildfires by their potential threats
to life, property and other values at risk.
The plan classifies every burnable acre in Alaska according to its
values at risk, the options for management of a wildfire on a given
parcel of land and the operational considerations and procedures required
for each management option. The Willow Ave Fire occurred in an area
classified under the Critical management option due to the values at
risk: life and private property. Critical fires receive the highest
priority for suppression actions in Alaska. Conversely, the Glacier
Creek Fire started in a Limited fire management option area, classified
as such because of its remote wilderness values. Limited fires generally
receive the lowest priority for suppression actions.
However, every wildland fire in Alaska is analyzed individually, regardless
of the land classification – to determine the values at risk,
the land management objectives for the area, the fire’s potential
to threaten values based on current and predicted fire behavior and
weather, the availability of firefighting resources, the threat to safety
of firefighters and the costs/benefits of managing the fire and different
alternatives.
When the Glacier Creek Fire was first discovered, I consulted with
the Refuge Managers and with the fire management officer from our cooperating
fire suppression agency (the Alaska Division of Forestry). Together,
we developed a plan to manage the fire, using a tool called a Wildland
Fire Situation Analysis (WFSA). This written plan, signed by the land
manager and the suppression agency, is reviewed daily and revised as
necessary to address an ever-changing fire situation. The Glacier Creek
WFSA was revised twice during its duration. Ultimately, the decision
was to allow the fire to burn within the Wilderness, while protecting
private and public cabins in the area.
These kinds of decisions are never easy. The easy decision is to suppress
every wildfire. It is much more difficult to let the dragon loose on
the landscape. Because there is always some risk with wildfire, as much
as we analyze each situation and plan for contingencies, there is always
some risk that things will go wrong. But, because we do allow many fires
to play their natural role in the ecosystem in Alaska, we are far better
off than many states in the Lower 48. There are over 6 million acres
of Alaska that won’t likely burn again for at least 50 years because
of the way we managed wildfires this year.
Doug Newbould has been the Fire Management Officer at the Kenai
National Wildlife Refuge since 1999. For more information about the
Refuge or to view past Refuge Notebook articles - visit the Refuge website
at
http://kenai.fws.gov or visit headquarters in Soldotna on Ski Hill Road.
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