By Alaska Division of Forestry on
Don’t let all that snow fool you, Alaska’s wildfire season officially begins on April 1 and Alaskans should prepare accordingly.
Alaska’s statutory wildland fire season starts on April 1 and extends through August 31, barring an emergency extension. And like fishing, hunting, or driving in Alaska, a state burn permit is required to legally use a burn barrel or burn brush piles on state, municipal or private lands during that time.
The burn permit requirement helps minimize the number of human-caused wildfires in Alaska by providing guidelines to permit holders related to the size of burn piles, what materials may be burned and other safe burning requirements that reduce the chances of a fire escaping.
https://dnr.alaska.gov/burn. Burn permits are NOT required for camping, cooking or warming fires less than three feet in diameter with flame lengths less than two feet high.
People violating burn permit requirements can be cited and held both criminally and civilly liable for damage caused by an escaped fire, which can run into the millions of dollars.
People who intend to burn brush this spring are encouraged to do so now, when fire danger is low, rather than wait until conditions dry out and the potential for starting a wildfire are higher. Likewise, anyone who burned debris piles over the winter should check to make sure they are completely extinguished and there is no chance they could rekindle.
“The remnants of large debris piles can retain heat for weeks or months and start a wildfire when conditions dry out,” McDonald said. “Go check your old burn piles now to make sure they won’t be a problem later.”
Despite a well-above-average snowpack in many parts of the state this past winter, it’s too early to predict what this summer’s fire season holds. The weather in May and early June has far more influence on fire season than winter snowpack. Given the heavy snowpack, a later-than-normal melt out is expected, which could delay the start of fire season, at least in the Interior region. Once the snow melts, however, it’s a matter of how quickly fuels dry out that dictates fire activity and behavior.
[email protected].
Categories: AK Fire Info, Fire Prevention
Tags: burn permits, Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Glennallen, Haines, Ketchikan, McGrath, Palmer, Soldotna, Tok, wildfire
Related Posts
Douglas McCort Obituary (2022) Daily News-Miner
Surrounded by a few devoted and loving friends, Douglas MacArthur McCort passed away Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Doug was not ready to die at age 50, but cancer had other ideas.Before courageously fighting metastasized renal cell cancer for the better part of 2½ years as well as...
Joseph David Lanni Obituary (1930 – 2022) Daily News-Miner
Joseph David (Dave) Lanni was born June 5, 1930, in Corry, Pennsylvania.Dave joined the Air Force shortly out of high school and began his true-life adventure when he came to Alaska in 1951 as a military police officer at Eielson Air Force Base. It was soon after that Dave acquired...
Man Charged With Murder In Fatal Stabbing At Fairbanks Motel
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A man has been arrested and accused of fatally stabbing another man early Monday morning at a motel in Fairbanks, police say.Fairbanks police officers were called to the Super 8 Motel on Airport Way around 4:15 a.m. Monday. According to a press release from the Fairbanks...
Adult Education Market Size, Trends And Forecast | University Of Alaska Fairbanks In Fairbanks, AK, University Of Illinois At Springfield In Springfield, IL, Troy University In Troy, AL, University Of Maryland University College In Adelphi, MD, University Of Missouri�St. Louis In St. Louis, MO – Bloomingprairieonline
New Jersey, United States – Verified Market Research provides an encyclopedic study of the Adult Education Market with holistic insights into important factors and aspects impacting the future growth of the market. The Adult Education Market has been analyzed for the forecast period 2022-2029 and the historical period 2015-2021. To help...