A large wildfire burning through tundra in Southwest Alaska was pushed to within 5 miles of St. Mary’s, prompting officials Friday to urge residents of that village and nearby Pitkas Point to prepare for possible evacuation.
In this aerial photo provided by the BLM Alaska Fire Service, the East Fork Fire burns about 25 miles north of St. Mary's, Alaska on June 2, 2022.
The fire is consuming dry grass, alder and willow bushes on the largely treeless tundra as gusts of up to 30 mph are pushing the fire in the general direction of St. Mary’s and Pitkas Point, Yup’ik subsistence communities with a combined population of about 700 people and about 10 miles apart. Climate change has played a role in this historic fire, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center.
“Climate change didn’t cause the thunderstorm that sparked that fire, but it increased the likelihood that the ambient conditions would be receptive,” he said. About 80 village elders and others with health concerns were relocated to the Alaska National Guard Armory in Bethel on Thursday, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
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