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Loon Lake Fire mostly contained as fire crews head north

Courtesy of Division of Forestry

The Loon Lake Fire outside Sterling is now mostly contained and there hasn’t been a flare up there in several days.

That’s according to public information officer Kale Casey. He says crews have finished putting a fireline and hose line around the fire.

“We’re not actually fighting fire. We are at 70 percent containment," Casey said. "And we have 62 people. We still have 102 acres.”

Heat can get trapped in the thick groves of black spruce in the interior in the fire, particularly on sunny afternoons. But between the rain yesterday and the cloud cover today, that hasn’t been a problem since Tuesday.

"So usually, this would be the time of the afternoon where the sun would be baking on the black spruce, and if there was still heat in that area, the interior, it would pop up," Casey said. "So we don't have concerns of that today.”

A Fairbanks fire crew and a Palmer crew will still be at the site for a while. They’re examining and mopping up more sections of the fire, Casey says, to make sure they’ve covered their bases.

But other crews are going up north to fight fires in the Interior, like one near McGrath and one near Fairbanks. 

The lightning-caused Loon Lake Fire was reported Saturday and is near where the Swan Lake Fire burned in 2019. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has given crews permission to suppress the fire 100 percent.

Sabine Poux is a producer and reporter for the Brave Little State podcast of Vermont Public. She was formerly news director and evening news host at KDLL in Kenai.

Originally from New York, Sabine has lived and reported in Argentina and Vermont and Kenai.
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