A forest fire at Seduction Point was “waiting to be a perfect storm” as winds pushed it toward Haines Wednesday.
Tim Holm of the Haines Volunteer Fire Department said the fire started at the base of a cliff with no evidence of a camp fire.
A local fisherman reported seeing smoke in the area at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
“He definitely is kind of the hero in this because if we didn’t get on it, it could have been up to Mt. Riley pretty quickly,” Holm said.
He said the fire was burning near the south point with strong north winds toward Haines.
The fire burned through the night before the Haines crew was authorized by the U.S. Forest Service to start working on it Wednesday morning. Holm said the forest service also would pay for insurance.
Seduction Point is Alaska State Park land, but jurisdiction over fire suppression was taken away from the state Division of Forestry late last year.
Seven Haines firefighters and three U.S. Forest Service crew started firefighting early Wednesday morning and worked through the day, Holm said. A forest service helicopter dumped water on the fire Wednesday evening. Holm said the federal crew would stay the night and alert the Haines fire department if the fire flares again.
Holm didn’t know at press time Wednesday if the Haines fire department would be needed in the morning for further assistance, or the total area of land burned. He said if the fire died down overnight, the crew would go in the morning to clean up and put out hotspots.
Holm said the forest service and Haines fire department would investigate the cause of the fire once it is under control.