Current Fire Information

Denali National Park and Preserve plans to conduct prescribed burning of slash piles around the park entrance area between March 3 and May 1, 2025, dependent on weather and conditions on site.

At 12:30 pm on Sunday, June 30, 2024, the Riley Fire was reported on Denali National Park and Preserve lands about one mile north of the park entrance, in the Nenana River canyon. Due to the extremely dry conditions, the fire grew quickly. Thanks to assistance from both local and out of state partners, fire protection agencies, and planning in advance for this type of scenario, the park was back to regular operations only 11 days after ignition.

The frontcountry of Denali National Park and Preserve has not experienced a significant wildland fire for 100 years. Given the expected fire interval in the dominant forest type is 60-120 years, NPS Alaska Western Area Fire Management staff brought together local park managers, major community stakeholders and regional suppression experts to discuss and prepare for what wildfire might look like in this area. A half-day simulation event took place in May 2024 in the park.

Northern Arizona University (NAU) graduate student Matt Behrens, with assistance from the NPS Alaska Western Area Fire Management Fire Ecology team, instrumented several of the piles with high-heat temperature sensors to record the flux of heat into the soil column. A first look at retrieved data showed a several hour delay in the transfer of heat through the organic-rich duff layers, and minimal soil heating effects beyond the pile edge.

The Foraker Fire, detected on June 21st, continues to burn in Denali National Park and Preserve, having increased in size to 2613 acres. Two more fires, the Grizzly Fire and East Toklat fire were discovered – the Grizzly Fire is estimated at 1158 acres and East Toklat at 20 acres. Both are believed to be lightning-caused. Currently, none of these fires pose a threat to public safety or property. The Park’s protection agency partner, BLM/Alaska Fire Service, is continuing to monitor both fires and will conduct point protection tactics if needed.   

The National Park Service (NPS) was only 26 years old when the United States entered World War II. The young bureau faced very real threats to its mission, with increasing pressure to contribute its natural and cultural resources to the war effort even as its budget and staff were slashed. Under the leadership of Director Newton B. Drury, the NPS was able to do its part for the war while maintaining its public trust responsibilities to the American people.

Denali National Park and Preserve plans to conduct prescribed burning of slash piles near Mile 1–3 of the Denali Park Road between March 25, 2024, and April 8, 2024.

July 2023 marked the 2nd year that the Alaska regional fire ecology program engaged with teachers from around Alaska in partnership with Project Learning Tree. Two NPS Alaska regional fire ecologists taught a segment of an educator workshop at Denali National Park and Preserve. The annual workshop is a continuing education program offered to K-12 teachers from across the state who are incorporating fire ecology into their classroom curriculums.

To address the limited understanding of fire history and fire regimes in the front-country of Denali National Park and Preserve, National Park Service Alaska Regional Fire Ecologists and University of Alaska, Fairbanks developed a collaborative proposal for research to improve the understanding of past fire regimes, vegetation, and spruce bark beetle outbreaks using paleo-sediment records from lakes and peat cores in and around Denali Park.

In September 2023, a group consisting of multi-disciplinary staff from Denali National Park & Preserve, Denali Borough, and the Anderson Fire Department visited the Anderson-Clear area to survey the various tactical methods implemented by the Incident Management Team during the wildfires and to witness the aftermath of those fires on the landscape. These interagency neighbors brainstormed on future ways to work together to become a fire adapted community!