A wildfire burning in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula is now estimated to be 75 acres in size, after the Alaska Division of Forestry was able to perform more accurate mapping.
Originally reported on Saturday night, the Loon Lake fire was initially estimated to have grown from 6 acres to 150 by Sunday. In a Monday release, the division wrote that better mapping revealed the fire’s true size to be about 75 acres.
“A lot of times, those initial acreage estimates are a little wonky, and they get adjusted once you get better mapping and you get more eyes in the sky and some eyes on the ground,” said Tim Mowry, a public information office with the Division of Forestry.
Ignited by lightning, the fire is burning in a remote area of the refuge more than 10 miles from Sterling, and the division has said the community is not in danger.