Libby Roderick’s opinion piece, “Let’s keep Alaska from suffering Australia’s wildfire fate,” had some very compelling points about wildfire prevention and water conservation. No one in Anchorage wants a repeat of last summer’s scare from the July 2 fire that started in the Campbell Tract during exceptionally hot conditions. I and several others visited “ground zero” for that fire on Aug. 9, led by the incident commander. While the location for the start has been pretty well identified, the exact cause has not been pinned down. The conclusion so far is “human-caused” due to the amount of human activity in the area.
I would add “illegal fires and equipment” to Ms. Roderick’s suggestion that fires can be caused by a careless toss of a cigarette or lightning strikes. In an urban area that has greenbelts which are rife with beetle-killed spruce and who knows how many homeless campers, we need to address the possibility of fire from propane tanks and other fire sources.
A recent photo on the front page of the ADN shows a homeless person who was holding a propane tank while being interviewed by homeless coordinator Nancy Burke for the point-in-time count. Last summer on Campbell Creek just east of the Seward Highway, I found a camp with a 100-pound propane tank. In November 2016, I witnessed a fireball explosion from a pile of propane tanks about 200 feet south of this camp. These fires are used for cooking, warmth and stripping the cover off wire, and they continue even when Anchorage is under a burn ban.
I would implore the mayor and Assembly to work on resolving this threat to Anchorage and its citizens now, rather than waiting to debate it this summer when we are again confronted with the potential for a catastrophic urban fire.
— Cherie Northon
Anchorage
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