The Alaska Division of Forestry put out a small wildfire that started on Penny Lane between Soldotna and Sterling on Thursday night.
The fire started in a mobile home on Penny Lane, on the Soldotna side of Longmere Lake around 3:45 p.m. Thursday. Central Emergency Services responded, and the Alaska Division of Forestry got involved when the fire spread from the mobile home to the wildlands nearby. The fire began spreading toward nearby homes and buildings, including a 500-gallon fuel tank.
A nearby garage caught fire and the fuel tank exploded, but CES contained the structure fires, and the Alaska Division of Forestry extinguished the fire in the wildlands within an acre.
The Penny Lane fire was one of four wildland fires that firefighters responded to on the central Kenai Peninsula yesterday. The first popped up on the Funny River Road Horse Trail in the morning, followed by another near the Decanter Inn in the Kasilof area. The final fire was discovered a little around 7:19 p.m. yesterday on Gerrard Street, off Pine Street.
May is usually a pretty dry month on the Kenai Peninsula, and with more people getting out for outdoor recreation, the risk of human-caused wildfires increases. The Kenai Peninsula is still under a burn permit suspension due to dry conditions and a limited firefighter availability. Campfires, warming and signal fires less than three feet in diameter are still allowed, but make sure you follow safe burning practices and ensure it’s entirely out before you leave.
Reach Elizabeth Earl at eearl@kdll.org.
