Wildfires Burn in Alaska

At least three wildfires were burning Friday in southern Alaska with lightning strikes threatening to start more blazes.

The Big Su fire near the Susitna River and the Caribou fire on the Kenai Peninsula had both spread over thousands of acres this week, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Another fire at the Yentna River and Lake Creek remained small, covering about 50 acres.

The fires strained the state’s resources. Officials asked the National Interagency Resource Center in Idaho to send 10 hotshot crews to Alaska, which would add 200 firefighters, the newspaper said.

Michael Keenan, acting chief of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department, said the Big Su fire might do considerable property damage if it jumps the Susitna River. Cabins and other structures were threatened.

It’s a beautiful plume of smoke right now, Keenan told the Daily News. It’s a pretty active fire.