Current Fire Information

Campfires are currently allowed in the Park and Preserve, but the effects of an unattended campfire could endanger structures or be a threat to visitor safety. Fires must be kept small and be completely extinguished before vacating any camp site in the Park. All visitors are urged to have good awareness of the weather conditions around them when deciding to have a campfire and ensure that a fire is dead out before leaving.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve Fire Management staff will be removing vegetation from the University Subdivision Fire Break June 12th through June 20th.

With wetter and cooler weather moving into southcentral Alaska and moderating fire activity, Superintendent Ben Bobowski announced today that effective immediately, campfires are again permitted throughout Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Wildland fire west of Copper Lake between Mount Sanford and Capital Mountain. The Capital Fire is now approximately 3 acres in size and being monitored.

In response to the current high fire danger, effective immediately and until further notice, open campfires are restricted to designated campgrounds or cabins within enclosed metal fire grates or designated fire rings provided at developed recreational facilities within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve.

With the increase of precipitation received over the Chetaslina and Long fires in the past several days, fire activity continues to be minimal. Fire personnel will continue to monitor these fires and will conduct another reconnaissance flight in several days once the fuels have an opportunity to dry out. Fire activity on the monitored Chetaslina (#606) and Long (#484) fires remains minimal.

Ninety-one percent of Alaska parklands fall within Limited Fire Management Option areas. This is where fires may be actively monitored by fire managers for the benefit and long-term ecological health of the land. This means that fire managers continually monitor the fire and ensure no values are at risk while the fire creates the necessary mosaic pattern needed for our ecosystem’s vitality. Great information can be gained from monitoring the fires in the park and preserve. Specialists can better gauge the fire succession and change in landscape, gain increased fire behavior modeling, research the wildlife habitat impacts, and study the repercussions of shorter fire return intervals.

The monitored fires in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve continue to burn in the duff soil layer of the forest floor. Duff is a soil type made of dead plant material including conifer needles, moss, leaves, bark, twigs and tree litter. The Chetaslina Fire (#606) and Long Fire (#484) are burning two to three feet within the duff. According to the National Weather Service, cloudy, cool and wet conditions may persist through the weekend. The weather prompted a reduction from Alaska Preparedness Level 5 to Level 4 earlier in the week. While the weekend forecast may continue to limit fire activity, warm and dry weather could revive the lightning-caused fires.

With cooler temperatures and much needed precipitation alleviating the severe fire conditions, Superintendent Ben Bobowski announced today that, effective immediately, campfires are again permitted throughout Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The use of gas grills and barbeques at campsites is also allowed.

More rain is expected today as showers continue to move through the Copper River Basin area. An increase in rainfall expected for Friday. Recent precipitation across the south-central part of the state should moderate fire behavior. However, warmer and drier weather conditions forecast for next week will affect how much drying the fuels need until they become burnable again. The Chetaslina and Long fires are burning deep into the ground, two to three feet in some places. It will require significant amounts of moisture over a prolonged period of time followed by a blanket of snow to extinguish the fires. In other words, a season ending event.