A wildfire near Tustumena Lake in Kasilof was discovered around 3 p.m. Saturday, and as of 6 p.m. had grown to 20 acres, motivating evacuation of nearby campgrounds.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s Office of Emergency Management wrote on Facebook around 4 p.m. that Central Emergency Services was responding with the State Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. Personnel were “on scene” at that time and additional resources were “en route.”
An update posted to Alaska Wildland Fire Information by the division around 7 p.m. said the fire was located around 2 miles northwest of the northern shore of Tustumena Lake in a wooded area of black spruce away from both roads and structures. Firefighters have been shuttled to the fire via helicopters, and suppression efforts are underway with air tankers and water scoopers. Water will be dropped throughout the evening to cool the fire’s perimeter and slow its spread.
There are multiple fires in the local region today, the update says, and managers are using limited resources to benefit multiple efforts.
“Smoke and aircraft will be visible to the public traveling along the Tustumena Lake Road but at this time the fire poses no threat to the public,” the update reads.
Homer Electric Association announced at 8 p.m. that they had de-energized some transmission lines in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in consideration of the safety of firefighters battling the Tustumena Lake fire. These lines are, they said, redundant sources that could act as a backup if primary sources of generation were to fail. No outages or disruption of service are expected for any members.
More information about the fire can be found at akfireinfo.com, updates from the borough can be found at “KPB Alerts” on Facebook.
This story was updated at 9 p.m. with new information from the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection and Homer Electric Association.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
