The Kenai Peninsula had its first wildfire of the season Wednesday
Firefighters from the Alaska Division of Forestry and Homer Volunteer Fire Department responded to a small grass fire off East End Road near Homer on Wednesday afternoon.
A person on the scene told firefighters he had discarded a cigarette butt in the grass and put it out with his foot. He left and came back a few minutes later and saw the grass burning, so called the fire department, which in turn called Forestry.
The fire covered an area of about 30-foot-by-30-foot and firefighters were able to put it out in about 10 minutes. It burned grass and scorched some low branches on some nearby trees.
While there’s still snow on the ground in the central peninsula, the southern peninsula is nearly snow free and drying out quickly.
As a reminder, burn permits are required since April 1 from the state Division of Forestry. Burn permits are available online at dnr.alaska.gov/burn. But they’re only good through April 30.
In anticipation of the impacts of COVID-19 on Alaska’s wildland firefighting resources this summer, the Division of Forestry will suspend all burn permits starting May 1. Forestry expects social distancing requirements and travel restrictions to limit the availability of firefighters in Alaska so is focusing on reducing the number of human-caused fires.
Any person or business found to be violating the burn permit suspension starting May 1 could be issued a citation to pay a fine or appear in court. The statewide burn permit suspension does not include small, contained cooking, warming or signaling fire, nor commercially manufactured outdoor cooking and heating devices.
