Just as a burn permit ban came into effect on Wednesday morning, firefighters got a call about a wildfire near Chilkat Lake.
Fire Chief Zak Overmyer said four people from the Haines volunteer fire department, one from the Klehini Valley volunteer fire department and the state wildlife trooper responded to a fire that was about ⅕ of an acre Wednesday morning.
“Crews are working on securing the edge of the containment line, chainsaw work and extinguishing hot spots via a pump from the lake,” Overmyer wrote in a text.
He said the U.S. Forest Service would be responding later in the week to check on it.
Meanwhile the burn permit suspension in the Haines Borough came on the recommendation of both the Haines and Klehini Valley volunteer fire departments.
Some areas of the borough have been substantially drier than others and present a higher fire danger, according to a media release from the Haines fire department.
During the suspension, all burning that requires a permit is prohibited though campfires in established fire rings, charcoal and propane grills and other recreational fires are still allowed.
The move comes as the National Weather Service is predicting warmer temperatures and dryer weather across the Southeast panhandle through the end of the week. The warmest temperatures were expected Wednesday and Thursday with the Haines, Klukwan and Skagway areas under a heat advisory through 7 p.m. on Friday. Temperatures in the low to mid-80s are expected.
While the current suspension is not an outright ban on burning, fire department staff are asking people to ensure fires are fully extinguished and avoid anything that could accidentally ignite dry vegetation, according to the release.
The Boulder Fire about 30 miles north of Haines.
Firefighters from the U.S. Wildland Fire Service – including Tongass National Forest firefighters and Alaska smokejumpers out of Fairbanks – finished extinguishing the Boulder fire about 30 miles north of Haines.
State forester Greg Palmieri said the fire crews wrapped up work on that 2.75-acre fire on Sunday.
The exact causes of the fire are still being investigated, but a Forest Service spokesperson told KHNS that the fire was human-caused and an investigator is headed to Haines to learn more.
According to Alaska Interagency Coordination Center on April 28, the Haines Volunteer Fire Department extinguished a small fire caused by a burn pile that was picked up by the wind and ignited a patch of grass along FAA Road. On June 14 someone in Mosquito Lake was burning garbage and the fire grew out of control and burned nearby tree branches.