Fire Season Winding down

This morning's Alaska Fire Service situation report has zero staffed fires in the state, with seasonal acreage burned at 290,600 acres. This is an increase of 28,000 acres since the end of June. There are still a few active fires in the state, including the Chitsia Mountain fire in the northwest part of Denali National Park and the Bonnifield #1 fire on the flats south of Fairbanks. However, with August knocking, 2011 is clearly not going to be a big fire year. It is likely that there will be some more burning, and the total acreage may well reach 300,000 acres by the end of the season. Indeed, numerical models are forecasting a moderate chinook wind event for Monday and Tuesday. Near the Alaska Range there has not been very much rain the past few days, so I expect both the above mentioned fires to grow.