Forest fire extinguished
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The 8.5 Mile fire that destroyed David and Linda Keirstand’s home and became a 4-acre forest fire was contained by US Forest Service firefighters and local volunteers on Friday, after nearly four days of battling flames.
Last week, 20 United States Forest Service firefighters and a helicopter took over efforts from local volunteers to battle the forest fire. Firefighters surrounded the perimeter of the fire with hoses and cut grass and brush to bare soil so that there was no fuel for the fire to spread, Forest Service spokesperson Paul Robbins said on Friday, May 31.
“(The firefighters) say the fire is controlled and it will now be monitored,” Robbins said Monday.
The squad left Haines on June 2, and placed monitoring status onto local volunteers.
The fire’s cause remains unknown, and will be investigated now that the fire is deemed inactive.
On May 20, neighbor Margaret Piggot called the Haines Volunteer Fire Department to report flames erupting from the Keirstad’s, her neighbor’s, shop.
Haines Volunteer Fire Department chief Al Giddings and a crew of about 25 volunteers, including EMS personnel and the Klehini Valley Volunteer Fire Department, worked into the night.
Giddings said the department is anticipating an active fire season, especially if dry conditions continue.
