Far from the evacuations and high profile fires raging across Alaska, down a remote chipseal road sandwiched 42 miles west of the Canadian border and 50 miles east of the nearest town of Tok, efforts are ongoing to gain ground on the remote Boundary River Fire.
About 9 miles from the village of Northway, population around 100, the lightning-caused fire is a Type III Incident and was estimated at 15,000 acres as of July 9.
Fire crews have been deployed to protect native allotments which are home to cabins, cultural camps and burial grounds, as well as hedge against a potential run toward the village.
Straddling the border with Canada is the larger 27,000-acre McArthur Fire, which has been the site of limited firefighting efforts.
But lacking adequate road access, fire officials must rely almost entirely on helicopters to transport personnel and gear into, and out of, the wilderness.
Northway Airport, dating back to the mid-1940s, became the center of activity with the transformation into Northway Helibase.