Fire officials are warning Alaskans to use extra caution with campfires over the long Memorial Day weekend, especially after crews put out several recent fires caused by still-smoldering 2014 and 2015 burns on the Kenai Peninsula. According to a joint release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Division of Forestry, firefighters responded early Wednesday to a small fire in the area of Funny River and Moose Ridge roads.
That's the same area where the 2014 Funny River Horse Trail fire threatened hundreds of Peninsula residents and prompted evacuations, eventually tearing through almost 200,000 acres, mostly in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
The fire Wednesday had been simmering in an "organic layer" a few inches under the surface, a remnant of that massive 2014 burn, according to the release.
Kristi Bulock, fire management officer at the refuge, said the new flareup burned about a 10th of an acre before it was brought under control.
It was just one of several such fires reported recently, with three holdovers from the 2015 Card Street fire — which burned not far from the 2014 Funny River blaze and even threatened one of the same neighborhoods — also attacked by firefighters in recent days.