An emergency order banning all open burning may have left some firefighters staying in camps in more remote parts of the Swan Lake Fire to eat cold rations and wear an extra sweater in the sleeping bag.
The burn ban, affecting the entirety of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, was strict enough that even cooking and warming campfires in crew camps were banned.
As a result, the order, which has been in effect since Aug. 21st, was amended Friday (Aug. 30) to allow such fires as long as they were smaller than 2-by-3 feet in size, are directly supervised at all times and cold to the touch when put out.
Many firefighters staying in fire camps around the resurgent blaze must cook their own food and use small cooking fires for that purpose.
