State firefighters cope with a wave of wildfires in Alaska

State fire crews are battling a series of smaller fires in central Alaska as more help arrives from the lower 48 states.

Alaska Division of Forestry spokesman Sam Harrel said Monday that some of the state’s highest-priority fires are burning on federal lands and are being fought by the Alaska Fire Service with the Bureau of Land Management. They include the Riley Fire, which has closed Denali National Park and Preserve, and the 160,000-acre McDonald Fire near Salcha.

Harrel said state firefighters’ priorities include the Montana Creek Fire, about 16 miles south of Talkeetna. The 172-acre blaze was about 40 percent contained Monday after an outbuilding was destroyed during an intense air and ground response.

Harrel said the fire is being turned over to an incident management team that arrived Sunday night from Wyoming. More than a dozen 20-person crews have flown to Alaska to fight fires across the state.

“It’s not a complex fire, but they’ll be able to focus on it, which will allow the Division of Forestry firefighters to respond to new fires as they come up,” Harrel said.

Among those fires is the Shaw Creek Dome fire near Delta Junction, a 7-acre blaze that was being monitored Monday as crews prepared to battle it. The blaze is one of several in the area that state firefighters are still working to contain, including the 5,500-acre Gold King Creek fire 46 miles south of Fairbanks.

“It looks really good,” Harrel said. “They were able to keep the fire from crossing Gold King Creek and getting into the lodge area. We still have about 30, 35 firefighters out there.”

Cooler, wetter weather has helped firefighters in southcentral and southwest Alaska, Harrel said. But a red flag warning will remain in effect Tuesday for much of the eastern Interior south of the Brooks Range — including Fort Yukon, Circle and other communities east of the Canadian border.

“We didn’t get as much rain there as we did in other parts of the state,” Harrel said.

But according to National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Dennis, the Interior could finally get some relief by midweek.

“We expect the high to start to dissipate due to the strong Siberian low, which will basically bring significant amounts of rain to much of the interior of the state, as well as cooler temperatures,” he said.

He added that a gradual cooling is expected on Monday, with rain expected to begin on Wednesday and continue through Thursday, and scattered showers expected this weekend.

As of Monday, 161 wildfires have broken out across the state.

Firefighters haven’t seen many major human-caused wildfires this season, which Harrel attributed to people following state and federal burning restrictions. But as the July 4 holiday weekend approaches, he urged Alaskans to be aware of fire hazards and avoid starting new fires in the state’s rural areas.

“Have a nice evening by the fire,” Harrel said. “But when you’re done by the fire, please put it out, stir it, put it out again, and make sure it’s cool to the touch.”

Dan Bross of KUAC contributed to this article.