Mile 17 Fire

Last updated
Mile 17 Fire
Mile17fromspit3.JPG
Smoke plume from May 13 flare-up seen from the Homer Spit, about 20 miles (32 km) to the southwest.
Date(s)May 12, 2009 - May 17, 2009
Coordinates 59°39′50″N151°28′08″W / 59.664°N 151.469°W / 59.664; -151.469
Statistics
Total area1,074 acres (4.35 km2)
Impacts
Structures destroyed8
Ignition
CauseDowned Power Line
Map
USA Alaska location map.svg
FireIcon.svg
Area of Fire in Alaska

The Mile 17 Fire was a wildfire that began around mile 17 of East End Road outside of Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, May 12, 2009, and lasted until Sunday, May 17.

Contents

Background

South-central Alaska had been experiencing unusually warm, dry weather for about 10 days before the fire, [1] and a downed power line apparently ignited dry brush on May 12. Parts of the fire were in forested areas that are inside Kachemak Bay State Park. The Kachemak Bay area was infested by spruce bark beetles in the 1990s, and many dead, dry trees remained in this area.

Firefighting efforts

On Wednesday, May 13, the fire was seemingly under partial control in the morning, but flared up violently due to afternoon winds and began to spread again. Fire crews asked for all available resources, and by the late afternoon, over 100 firefighters and numerous pieces of heavy equipment were committed to the fire, along with water tanker trucks and fire-suppression aircraft. [2] The fire continued to spread rapidly and evacuation orders were issued for residents in the area, including the villages of Razdolna and Voznesenka. In less than 24 hours, the fire had spread from 70 acres (280,000 m2) to an estimated 700 acres (2.8 km2), and efforts were shifted from actively fighting the fire to protecting lives and homes. [3]

As of the afternoon of May 14, the fire had grown to nearly 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) and was continuing to spread. Two strike teams were dispatched by the Anchorage Fire Department and Central Mat-Su Fire Department, and a team of smokejumpers arrived. A type-1 incident command team took over command of firefighting efforts.

On Friday, May 15, the weather changed and a light rain fell in the fire area, allowing crews an opportunity to contain the fire. Firefighters reported that many areas within the fire perimeter were not burned, and only two structures were confirmed lost. The fire was estimated to be 25% contained. [4]

By the weekend, about 245 personnel were on hand to combat the fire. Continued humid weather facilitated major progress over May 16 and 17, and the fire was 65% contained. Three homes and two other buildings were confirmed destroyed, out of about 50 homes in the fire area. [5]

Aftermath

An area burned by the fire, fifteen years later Mile 17 2024.jpg
An area burned by the fire, fifteen years later

At 6:00 pm on Sunday, May 17, the fire was declared to be 100% contained. Fire-fighting efforts shifted to finding remaining hot spots inside the perimeter and extinguishing them. The total affected area was 1,074 acres (4.35 km2), with eight structures destroyed. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourmile Canyon</span>

Fourmile Canyon or Four Mile Canyon is a mountainous canyon in western Boulder County, Colorado that channels a stream known as Fourmile Creek or Four Mile Creek .). The stream rises at 40.048°N 105.550°W on the southern slope of Niwot Mountain, before flowing east and south through the unincorporated communities of Sunset, Wallstreet, Salina and Crisman to the confluence with Boulder Creek at 40.015°N 105.324°W in Boulder Canyon, four miles west of the historic location of the Boulder Railroad Depot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanta Creek Wildfire</span> Lightning caused forest fire in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

The Shanta Creek Wildfire was a lightning caused forest fire that started on June 29, 2009 in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. More than 13,000 acres were burned and over 400 personnel were involved in the firefighting effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 California wildfires</span>

The 2009 California wildfires were a series of 9,159 wildfires that were active in the US state of California, during the year 2009. The fires burned more than 422,147 acres of land from early February through late November, due to Red Flag conditions, destroying hundreds of structures, injuring 134 people, and killing four. The wildfires also caused at least US$134.48 million in damage. Although the fires burned many different regions of California in August, the month was especially notable for several very large fires which burned in Southern California, despite being outside of the normal fire season for that region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minto Flats South Fire</span> Wildfire in Alaska

The Minto Flats South Fire was a lightning-caused wildfire in Interior Alaska south of Fairbanks that ignited in late June 2009. It was by far the largest in what was termed the "Railbelt complex" of fires, so named because they were all near the main route of the Alaska Railroad. By July 16 it had burned more than 156,469 acres (63,321 ha). Alaska was experiencing an unusually hot and dry start to the summer season which in turn led to a very active wildfire season. By the time the Minto Flats fire had become the largest fire in Alaska, over seventy other blazes were active throughout the state, stretching resources to their limits. The main body of the fire was deemed too large to actually try to extinguish and firefighting efforts focused from the beginning on protecting lives and property. In mid July it had grown to over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) and was rapidly expanding along its southern edge; smokejumpers were deployed to protect cabins along the Teklanika River near Nenana. Firefighters cleared away fuels surrounding an oil drilling rig in the area and instructed the drilling crew on the use of firefighting equipment. It burned so aggressively that it advanced against the wind at times. By the end of July over 350 people were involved in the firefighting effort. Continued hot, dry weather helped the fire grow to over 300,000 acres (120,000 ha). The fire was not declared under control until late August. The final acreage of the fire was 517,078.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B&B Complex fires</span>

The B&B Complex fires were a linked pair of wildfires that together burned 90,769 acres (367.33 km2) of Oregon forest during the summer of 2003. The fire complex began as two separate fires, the Bear Butte Fire and the Booth Fire. The two fires were reported on the same day and eventually burned together, forming a single fire area that stretched along the crest of the Cascade Mountains between Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington. On the western side of the Cascades, the fire consumed mostly Douglas-fir and western hemlock. On the eastern side of the mountains, the fire burned mostly Ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and jack pine. Most of the burned area was on public land administered by the United States Forest Service including 40,419 acres (163.57 km2) within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. The fire also burned forest land on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and small areas of state and private land. Firefighters battled the blaze for 34 days. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were over 2,300 personnel working on the fire. Although the cost of fire suppression was over $38 million, there were no deaths and no homes burned as the fire was largely in wilderness areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Texas wildfires</span> Series of wildfires in Texas

The 2011 Texas wildfires were a series of destructive wildfires in Texas that occurred in the 2011 fire season. During 2011 in Texas, around 31,453 fires had burned 4,000,000 acres or 16,190 square kilometres, 2,947 homes, and over 2,700 other structures. 47.3% of all acreage burned in the United States in 2011 was burned in Texas. The fires had been particularly severe due to the 2011 Southern US drought that covered the state, and was exacerbated by the unusual convergence of strong winds, unseasonably warm temperatures, and low humidity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Forest Fire</span>

The Black Forest Fire was a forest fire that began near Highway 83 and Shoup Road in Black Forest, Colorado around 1:00 p.m. on June 11, 2013. As of June 20, 2013, the fire was 100 percent contained, 14,280 acres were burned, at least 509 homes were said to be destroyed, and two people had died. This was the most destructive fire in the state's history at the time, surpassing the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire which also began near Colorado Springs. It was surpassed in 2021, when the Marshall Fire destroyed over 1,000 homes in Boulder County, in Superior and Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funny River Fire</span> Forest fire near Soldotna, Alaska

The Funny River Fire or the Funny River Horse Trail Fire was a forest fire that began on May 19, 2014 near Soldotna, Alaska. It quickly grew to over 20,000 acres, and by May 23 it had burned over 67,000 acres or about 105 square miles. Tustumena Lake acted as a natural barrier keeping the fire from spreading south. A July 10 overflight found no sign of the fire continuing to burn. It had grown to 195,858 acres.

The Sockeye Fire was a 2015 wildfire that occurred near Willow, in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska. By the time the fire was contained, 7,220 acres (29 km2) of land had burned. The fire received its name because its origin was traced to Sockeye Avenue, in Willow. The fire forced the closure of the George Parks Highway near the fire, closing the primary road link between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for residents and visitors between Milepost 69 and 77 of the highway. Authorities urged the residents of Willow to evacuate, utilizing the Emergency Alert System throughout the afternoon of June 14 as the fire spread and intensified. Alaska Governor Bill Walker declared a state of emergency for the area on June 15. Authorities requested help from fire crews throughout Alaska, as well as from emergency agencies in the contiguous United States. The Anchorage Fire Department, Alaska's largest, sent a task force of personnel and emergency vehicles.

The Shirley Fire was a wildfire that started on June 13, 2014 at 5:00 PM PDT, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Shirley Meadows, Kern County, California, in the southern part of the Sequoia National Forest. The fire rapidly spread, due to dry weather and drought conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lava Fire (2012)</span> 2012 wildfire in Oregon

The Lava Fire was a wildfire that burned over 21,500 acres (87 km2) of Oregon rangeland during the summer of 2012. The fire began on 23 July 2012, the result of a lightning strike. The fire consumed rangeland vegetation and scrub forest located in and around lava beds in northern Lake County. The burned area was on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management including a large area within a wilderness study area. Firefighters battled the blaze for over three weeks. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were over 275 personnel working on the fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Point Fire</span> 2012 wildfire in Oregon and California

The Barry Point Fire was a wildfire that burned over 92,977 acres (376.26 km2) of Oregon and California forest land during the summer of 2012. The fire began on 5 August 2012, the result of a lightning strike. The fire consumed public forest and rangeland as well as private forest and grazing land located in Lake County, Oregon and Modoc County, California. The public lands affected by the fire are administered by the United States Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The largest part of the private land was owned by the Collins Timber Company. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 1,423 personnel working on the fire. It took 22 days to fully contain the fire and then an additional three weeks to mop it up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milli Fire</span> 2017 wildfire in the U.S. state of Oregon

The Milli Fire was a wildfire that burned over 24,000 acres (97 km2) of Oregon forest land during the summer of 2017. The fire began in the Deschutes National Forest on 11 August 2017, the result of a lightning strike. The fire consumed thick forest vegetation southwest of Sisters, Oregon. Most of the burned area was public lands administered by the United States Forest Service, much of it in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Firefighters battled the blaze for over a month. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 675 firefighters working on the Milli Fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinder Butte Fire</span> 2017 wildfire in Oregon

The Cinder Butte Fire was a wildfire that burned over 52,000 acres (210 km2) of Oregon rangeland during the summer of 2017. The fire began on 2 August 2017. It was determined to be human-caused since lightning was not present in the area prior to the initial fire report. The fire consumed rangeland vegetation and juniper woodlands in the area east of Glass Buttes in northern Lake County and then spread into northwestern Harney County. Most of the burned area was on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Firefighters battled the blaze for over a week. At the peak of the firefighting effort, there were 496 firefighters working on the Cinder Butte Fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 United Kingdom wildfires</span> A record-breaking series of wildfires in the UK

Starting on 24 June 2018 and continuing throughout the summer, a record-breaking series of wildfires burned across the United Kingdom. The two largest fires, which were declared major incidents, burned over 7 square miles each and broke out on Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester and Winter Hill in Lancashire. Other large fires broke out in Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Epping Forest, in London and in the Vale of Rheidol in Ceredigion, Wales. The Saddleworth Moor fire has been described as the largest English wildfire in living memory. Most of the wildfires occurred during the first official heatwave in the United Kingdom since June 2017, with temperatures reaching above 30 °C (86 °F) for several days, making the hottest June in the country since 1995, and the driest June for over ten years in large parts of the United Kingdom, exacerbating the crisis. A wildfire started on the Staffordshire Moorlands on 9 August and, despite rain, had spread to cover 219 acres by 11 August. Some hot spots were still burning as at 22 August. In total, there were 79 fires over the course of the year, a new record. However, the record was beaten in 2019 with 96 fires as of April 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendocino Complex Fire</span> 2018 wildfire in Northern California

The Mendocino Complex Fire was a large complex of wildfires that burned in northern California for more than three months in 2018. It consisted of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, which burned in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, and Glenn Counties in the U.S. State of California, with the Ranch Fire being California's single-largest recorded wildfire at the time until the Dixie Fire in 2021. The Ranch Fire burned eight miles northeast of Ukiah, and the River Fire burned six miles north of Hopland, to the south of the larger Ranch Fire. First reported on July 27, 2018, both fires burned a combined total of 459,123 acres (1,858 km2), before they were collectively 100% contained on September 18, though hotspots persisted until the complex was fully brought under control on January 4, 2019. The Ranch Fire alone burned 410,203 acres (1,660 km2), making it the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time until the August Complex fire that occurred in 2020. The Ranch Fire also surpassed the size of the 315,577-acre Rush Fire, which burned across California and Nevada, as well as the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889, which was previously believed to have been California's all-time largest wildfire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Fire</span> 2018 wildfire in Northern California

The Delta Fire was a 2018 wildfire that burned near Lakehead, California, in the Shasta National Forest. The fire burned 63,311 acres (256 km2) and destroyed 20 structures, before it was 100% contained on October 7, 2018. The fire burned into the western flank of the nearby Hirz Fire on September 10, and also burned only a couple of miles away from the enormous Carr Fire, the seventh-most destructive fire in Californian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan Lake Fire</span> 2019 wildfire in the American state of Alaska

The Swan Lake Fire was a large lightning-caused wildfire that burnt between Sterling and Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska from June 5, 2019, until the autumn of that year. In total, the fire burned approximately 170,000 acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Fire (2019)</span> 2019 wildfire in Northern California

The Walker Fire was a wildfire that burned near Genesee Valley in the Plumas National Forest approximately 11 miles east of the community of Taylorsville in Plumas County, California. The blaze was reported on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 and immediately expanded in size over its several days of burning. The fire actively threatened homes from Genesee Valley to Antelope Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crews Fire</span> 2020 wildfire in Northern California

The Crews Fire was a wildfire that burned east of the city of Gilroy in Santa Clara County, California, in the United States. The fire started on July 5, 2020. It burned 5,513 acres (2,231 ha) and was extinguished on July 13, 2020. Burning approximately three miles east of Highway 101, the fire caused the evacuation approximately 20 homes and 70 residents. One structure was destroyed, one was damaged, and one firefighter was injured. It threatened 30 structures and farm and ranch lands in southeast Gilroy in the San Juan Valley. Mandatory evacuations were ordered on July 5, and they were lifted on July 8.

References

  1. Firefighters Battle First Wildfire Of The Season East Of Homer (mp3 audio file) Casey Kelly/KBBI AM890 May 13, 2009 Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "40 Homes threatened by blaze near mile 17 East End Road". Homer News. May 13, 2009. Archived from the original on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  3. Homer fire threatens Old Believer villages Anchorage Daily News May 13th, 2009 11:51 pm Archived 2009-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "East End Road open to residents, Community meeting on fire is Saturday", Homer News, May 15, 2009
  5. Crews are making some progress against Homer wildfire Anchorage Daily News May 17, 2009 Archived 2009-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Mile 17 fire 100 percent contained, Mop-up continues of hot spots Homer News 5:50 PM on Monday, May 18, 2009