When Billy Owens saw the fire getting close to his property near Bear Creek last Friday, he and his wife put their seven kids in a car. By the time they finished packing, the flames were on their land.
“We just had to make quick decisions,” he said. “Decide the most important stuff, like the cook stove and the things we need to survive.”
He also needed to get 24 birds – ducks and chickens – to safety. Owens put them in cages and strapped them to a four-wheeler. He said it was the only hope for a future for their farm.
“I just stacked the ducks and the chickens on there and apologized for the wind, and we went,” he said. “And they didn't like it, but we all made it.”
After a week that saw wildfires break out across much of Alaska, the Bear Creek Fire is the state’s highest firefighting priority. It started during the lightning storm on June 19, burning over 26,000 acres on both sides of the Parks Highway which connects Fairbanks to Anchorage.
Laura Knowles evacuated with her family, too. She said they lost their log cabin at Bear Creek in a fire eight years ago. Since then, she’s lived in a bus with four of her younger children.
This weekend, the wildfire destroyed that. Knowles said she was devastated.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed (of) living in Alaska off grid. This was my off-grid home,” she said in a message. “I am trying to process this all and helping my children process it too.”
Denali Borough Mayor Chris Noel says officials are still assessing the damage, but he knows for certain that people have lost their primary residences. The borough’s preliminary estimate showed that 17 structures have been damaged by the Bear Creek Fire, at least six of them residential. At least 100 Healy residents were asked to evacuate.
“We feel for them,” Noel said. “We know this is a challenging and stressful situation, and we're doing the best we can to put out timely public information.”
The area has been getting rain after what Noel called extreme fire behavior over the weekend. He says it will take a lot of precipitation to soak the dry duff layers that are fueling the fire, but the moisture is helping firefighters protect structures and slow the fire down.
Overall, around 300 fires were burning across Alaska as of Wednesday, though fire activity has slowed down beginning with Tuesday’s cooler weather. Fire managers were focused on several fires near Fairbanks, as well as fires along the Denali Highway, near Tok and east of Delta Junction.
The forecast showed warmer weather and potential for thunderstorms returning in the next few days.
Meanwhile, the Owens family is living on a neighbor’s land. The night they evacuated, the family camped at a gravel pit across the Nenana River, thinking they would be safe there. But they woke to see that the fire had jumped the highway and was approaching the river, so they had to evacuate again.
“The sky looked like the world was ending,” he said.
Owens says the fire had destroyed the RV they had been living in, along with gear and tools worth thousands of dollars. They also lost family photos and keepsakes they can’t replace.
But Owens says he’s thankful for the community that stepped up to offer his family clothes and supplies. He was also happy that the frame of the cabin he was building nearby survived.
“The only thing I lost was the home I was staying in, but I still have the tools to rebuild,” he said.
The Denali Borough and fire managers will hold a community meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Tri-Valley School to share updates and connect with people whose property was damaged or lost.
Correction: The photo caption has been updated to clarify when the photo was taken.
