Incident Meteorologist was a valuable team member at Bean Complex – Alaska Wildland Fire Information

Warm and sunny weather conditions again dominated the region on Friday, allowing helicopter and motorboat transport operations to continue. No measurable amounts of rain were recorded over the fire area in the past 24 hours, but fire activity remained smoldering and minimal. Warm and dry conditions will persist this weekend, with scattered rain showers possible on Sunday. Underground hotspots remained scattered and are expected to continue to smolder until heavier rains douse the fires. This brief drying trend is not expected to support active fire growth as it may rain into Monday night and into Tuesday.

An Anchorage-based event meteorologist has been assigned to the Bean Complex for the past two weeks. Accident meteorologists are National Weather Service employees who have specialized fire weather training and experience. This position is critical for predicting current and future fire activity. Yesterday, July 29th, was the 94th^th Anniversary of the assignment of meteorologists to support wildfire suppression efforts and it was a crucial partnership. The forecasts for the Bean Complex were very beneficial and extremely accurate, allowing the operations and logistics staff to effectively plan the complex movements of people, equipment and supplies. Long term weather trends and forecasts have also been studied in consultation with other specialists and continue to predict a southwesterly flow at altitude which will bring regular rain.

The seven fires total 197,174 acres with 126 assigned people. The slight enlargement is due to more accurate mapping. Firefighters camp remotely near the larger fires while they work to pull out extinguishing equipment and supplies.

That Fire of the Tanana River (#310), is 14 miles southeast of Manley Hot Springs and north of the Tanana River. Firefighters dismantle firefighting equipment and prepare it for removal from the Deadman’s Lake area. The fire is 25,202 acres.

That Bitzshitini Fire (#312), is 23 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs and south of the Tanana River. It is unmanned and in surveillance status. The fire is 71,219 acres in size.

That Chitinana Fire (#315), south of the Tanana River, about 21 miles southeast of Tanana and 20 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs, is 100,233 acres. Crews are working to remove water pump equipment from three different locations of the fire.

That Hutlinana Fire (#327), is north of the Tanana River about 10 miles east of Manley Hot Springs and is 407 acres in size. It is unmanned and in surveillance status.

That Rock Fire (#557), is 6 miles north of Eureka and is 1 acre in size. It is unmanned and in surveillance status.

That Elephant Fire (#561), is 6 miles northeast of Eureka and is 110 acres. It is unmanned and in surveillance status.

That Cosna Bluff Fire (#564), is 19 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs and is 5 acres. It is unmanned and in surveillance status.

For more information, contact Bean Complex Information at email: [email protected]; or 907-921-2454

Categories: AK Fire Info

Tags: Alaska Fire Season 2022, Alaska Division of Forestry, Bean Complex, BLM Alaska Fire Service