Private aircraft continue to hamper airborne firefighting efforts on the Swan Lake Fire, burning northwest of Cooper Landing.
Multiple aircraft are violating the Swan Lake Fire Temporary Flight Restriction area every day, according to the Eastern Area Incident Management Team, and it's creating the potential for a serious accident.
According to Incident Commander Brian Pisarek, just one stray airplane, helicopter or drone on a wildfire can adversely affect the safety and efficiency of the overall firefighting effort. Violators of the Temporary Flight Restriction will be reported to the FAA. The area restricted includes the western portion of the Chugach National Forest and the Sterling Highway corridor and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Fire fighters shut down air operations when the restricted zone is violated until the risk of a mid-air collision is resolved. When firefighting aircraft are grounded, it can adversely affect the safety and efficiency of the overall firefighting effort.
According to Pisarek, airplanes and helicopters provide critical support to fire suppression operations, flying at low altitudes to perform a variety of missions to support firefighters on the ground by hauling and dropping loads of water to reduce hotspots, perform reconnaissance and monitoring of fire activity, and transport firefighters and critical supplies to remote areas of the fire and out in emergencies.
Meanwhile, with wildfire danger moderating as a result of cooler, moister weather, the Alaska Division of Forestry will end campfire closures on state, private and municipal lands in Southcentral Alaska, effective 8 a.m. this morning (July 18). Open debris burning and the use of burn barrels are still prohibited. Reversal of the Southcentral Alaska closure means campfires under three feet in diameter will be allowed in Kenai Peninsula Borough.
The Swan Lake Fire is maintaining at just under 101,000 acres and is 25 percent contained, though fire managers expect fire activity to increase with increased temperature and decreased humidity. Likewise, smoke is expected to increase from the Swan Lake Fire, and with winds shifting to the Northwest, likely impacting Cooper Landing.
The east flank of the fire continued to smolder in the Chickaloon, Thurman, and Mystery Creek drainages with minimal spread. The west flank of the fire has been checked by a wet marshy area.
Managers note that the area of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where the Swan Lake Fire is burning has not seen fire since 1947, and areas at higher elevations in the mountains have no record of fire. The fire will remove some areas of black spruce to reduce future large-scale fire impacts.
